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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24473992">Room for Two</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmberSpirit/pseuds/AmberSpirit'>AmberSpirit</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alien Character(s), Alien/Human Relationships, Body Horror, Creepy Fluff, M/M, No Smut, Possessive Behavior, Suicide Attempt, Tentacle Monsters, Vore, a human boy and an alien are held captive and form a bond, kinda sweet</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:28:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>37,998</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24473992</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmberSpirit/pseuds/AmberSpirit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>David, a small-town farm boy, is kidnapped during his runaway attempt and finds himself trapped in a basement by a mysterious couple. In the beginning, he thinks they plan to kill him but as the days go by David realizes he is kept there for a reason that he doesn’t understand. His captors’ strange orders and their own behavior in the basement make David wonder: is he truly the only occupant of the room?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Human/Alien</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>83</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This work used to be on kindle a long time ago but I took it down since. It's the very first story I ever finished so even though it's pretty bad compared to my current writing, it holds a special place in my heart. Maybe someone here will enjoy it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Prologue</p>
<p>When he was seven years old, David saw a documentary about slugs. He was still an impressionable little boy and the film had a profound effect on him.</p>
<p>The documentary was dry and practical with a male voice smoothly narrating the events of a slug’s life while the slimy animal moved on tree branches, leaving a wet path in its wake.  The slow, steady movement inspired feelings of unease and fascination in the little boy, but most of all David found himself disgusted. The repulsion he felt for the creature was almost alarming in its intensity; the hairs on his neck were standing up in shock as he continued to watch the documentary, unable to look away.</p>
<p>Days afterwards he was still haunted by the disgusting images. He would frequently wake up in the middle of the night with a feeling that there was a slug crawling up his thigh as it steadily made its way to his tummy. He would fling away the cover in horror but of course would find nothing; it was only in his head. The nightmares would never end and David was trapped in visions of slow dragging movement on his body; of feeling the steady sliding motion on his stomach and the cold slime spreading against his bare skin with each movement. He wet the bed a lot during this period and his mother was often cross with him because of it. There was a particular beating he received that stood out in his memory; his mother’s eyes were icy as she accused him of doing it on purpose and her hits were unusually brutal.</p>
<p>This went on for a week and eventually the little boy learned to accept the fear and added it to his growing list of weaknesses. It was not until two months later that David saw a real life slug for the very first time.</p>
<p>He was playing with Robert Creed, the only boy in his class who talked to him. He was a year younger than David but taller and much more confident. The other boy would always be the leader in their games and his insistent nature on occasion easily crossed into bullying.</p>
<p>It was an ordinary day; it had been raining heavily that morning, and the ground was moist and slippery. They were walking by the roadside on their way to the Hayden estate’s abandoned barn when David spotted it. A slug.</p>
<p>His eyes glanced down at the slimy creature as if in slow motion and he stopped, body freezing in terror.</p>
<p>It was crawling along the road edge at a slow, determined pace. David instinctively emitted a disgusted cry at the sight of the slugs’ boneless body wiggling in its mucus and struggling to move.</p>
<p>Robert spotted it too and laughed.</p>
<p>“Oh, look at this slimy bastard!” he stated with fascination. He crouched down and lifted his hand as if to grasp it.</p>
<p>“Don’t!” David cried. “Don’t touch it!”</p>
<p>He found the idea terrifying; he was sure that if Robert touched the slug, David wouldn’t be able to avoid imagining the sensation on his own skin and it would be too much. He was so sure he would faint that when Robert’s hand hovered over the creature, David started to feel very weak.</p>
<p>“You don’t like it? You don’t like it?” Robert asked over and over again as his hand danced around the disgusting thing. “But it likes you, David!”</p>
<p>“It doesn’t like me- leave it be, let’s go!” he begged desperately, face white. David wanted to step back but his legs wouldn’t let him; his whole body was frozen in terror. He couldn’t keep his eyes off the slug. It was so repulsive, squirming on the asphalt like a boneless limb that has been cut off and tossed away to rot. He was so focused on the horrible image that he didn’t notice Robert taking a leaf from the nearby bush. He leaned down and used it to pick up the slug with a careful clench of his fingers.</p>
<p>The boy advanced on David.</p>
<p>“What are you doing? NO!” he whimpered in fear and tried to move away but his legs were like stone, paralyzed by fear.  He could only watch the slug getting closer and closer towards him in slow motion. Robert was saying something, his mouth moving but David couldn’t hear the words. His whole world was reduced to that one writhing creature and its proximity to his face.</p>
<p>“Please! PLEASE DON’T!”</p>
<p>And then the tall boy took a sharp step forward and David felt something cool slip down his shirt, landing on his chest. His vision was washed white but he knew what the cold wet thing was almost immediately.</p>
<p>The slug was underneath his clothes! He could feel it latching onto his bare skin, worming its way inside his warmth. He started thrashing and one of his feet slipped. David hit the ground hard, the back of his head colliding with a rock painfully.</p>
<p>The fear he experienced at that moment was so absolute that he didn’t remember much more. He had never been as terrified as he was at that very moment. It felt like death.</p>
<p>When he came to, his shirt was gone, lying on the ground next to him with the slug squashed inside. Robert was hovering over him, his face bright and malicious with glee and pointing at David’s pants. The smell of urine was sharp in the air and David realized he had pissed himself. The wet trousers were clinging to his legs and when he shifted he could feel the warmth spread down his calves.</p>
<p>He glanced again at the slug to make sure it was dead. All that remained of it now was an unidentified mass of fluids on the sleeve of his t-shirt. David could not bear to pick it up now, even with the slug dead, and so he stood up shirtless and shivering in the autumn air. The fear was slowly replaced by shame and his face heated up as Robert continued his teasing. He felt so stupid, being afraid of such a tiny thing. Slugs weren’t dangerous in any way.</p>
<p>Desperate to prove himself, David turned back towards the crumpled t-shirt and stepped onto the squashed remains of the slug. He started stomping at it angrily and it felt good to destroy it so violently. Incredibly good. When Robert pointed at another slug by the road, David immediately jumped at it, his sneakers flattening the creature with a loud SPLAT.</p>
<p>From that day on, he was no longer afraid of slugs.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The jingling sound of keys.</p><p>David opened his eyes with a groan. The back of his head felt like a large pulsating wound, throbbing in time with his heartbeat. His hand automatically reached out to touch it and felt a small bump hidden between the strands of hair.</p><p>After checking the damage he immediately shifted his attention to his surroundings in a desperate attempt to understand what happened. A dark room. No windows. Bright electric light was illuminating the stony floor as dust accumulated in the air. The place was familiar in a way; he was never in this room before but he had seen others like it. The smell of the room only reinforced his fears with its damp stench of something metallic and forgotten. He was in a basement.</p><p>As he sat up he realized that there was an old used mattress underneath him; it was sprouting from the floor like a rotten mushroom which made it look more like an extension of the damp place rather than a piece of it.</p><p>Why was he here? The last thing he remembered was running away from the farm; his clandestine escape from his bedroom packed with siblings followed by endless hours of hitchhiking. The wound at the back of his head suggested that he was ambushed from behind and then dragged here. But who…?</p><p>David swallowed the feeling of pain, turning his head towards the sound of the keys. There was a brief pause in the movement of the door, almost cautious, and then it opened wide. David’s first thought upon seeing the visitor was: Oh my God, he’s carrying a gun.</p><p>This realization woke him up completely and the boy straightened up with alarm. The man entering the room was around fifty with blue unfriendly eyes and a red face that looked like it had been sunburned recently. He was wearing a blue, wrinkled shirt that was straining against the bulge of his stomach. David recognized him as the driver who picked him up near that gas station. George.</p><p>The guy who kept talking about the bad economy, the guy who had a picture of his wife in the glove compartment, the one who was missing a finger. George.</p><p>‘Oh shit’, the boy thought with a feeling of rising panic ‘After I got in he must have- he must have driven me here.’</p><p>The man kept the gun pointed at the ground but his eyes weren’t trained on David, instead nervously looking around the whole room as if searching for something. Upon finding nothing there, George took a few steps back and lifted a large empty plastic bag from behind the door. David eyed it with apprehension.</p><p>It’s only after he dragged the bag into the room that his eyes met David’s and he frowned in confusion.</p><p>“Stand up” he barked, still visibly confused. Even from the short command it was clear the man had an unknown, thick accent. David obeyed without a question, the threat of the gun wiping his mind clean. George (or whatever his name was, he probably lied about his name too) looked him up and down, obviously searching for something and when he didn’t find it he ordered the boy to turn around.</p><p>“Why are you doing this?” David asked with a terrified voice and turned his back on the man. It was only now that he realized he was barefoot with his socks missing; the stone floor felt like ice underneath him.</p><p>He expected to hear the terrible echo of a firing gun and his body was tense with anticipation. Would George shoot him now? Aim the gun at his exposed back and end it all? Is that why he brought the plastic bag? To take care of his body?</p><p>Is he going to die?</p><p>“Turn around” George ordered again and David obeyed with shaking hands. His face was wet with tears; he couldn’t remember when he started crying.</p><p>“Please….don’t kill me. I’ll do anything….” the boy begged desperately but George wasn’t even looking at him. He continued to survey the room and for a moment David followed his gaze, expecting to see another prisoner. But the basement was empty.</p><p>Lowering his gun, George grabbed the plastic bag again and left. At the sound of the key in a lock, David collapsed back onto the filthy mattress.</p><p>“Jesus Christ…”</p><p>It took three more minutes for him to be able to control his body and two more to stand up again. The seriousness of the situation slowly started to sink in. He was trapped in a basement room by some psycho who picked him up on the road when he was too busy being a careless idiot and hitchhiking.</p><p>This was not a nightmare. This was real, as real as the wound on the back of his head or the mud on the hems of his jeans. This was really happening. His first instinct was to try to escape and David started to pace around the damp room in a hopeless attempt to find something useful.</p><p>Most of it was bare, littered with the occasional empty dog bowl or a plastic cup. The floor was more or less clean with a drain which was located on the lower ground in the shadowy corner; when David got on all fours to peer down at it, he got a feeling that he saw water move underneath, as if the drain was clogged. It smelled strangely of metal and some other familiar scent he couldn’t place.</p><p>The room had a single light bulb that was shining with a weak light. There were no windows or any ventilation system; as a result the air was damp and heavy. David’s lungs were uncomfortably tight as he continued to breathe the stale air.</p><p>The ceiling was rather low, which was characteristic of basement rooms, and created a feeling of enforced claustrophobia.  The four walls around him were stable without any cracks or weaknesses and slowly but surely David realized that there was no other way out of this box of stone but through the door. Trying it was his last resort and when he desperately tugged on the handle, there were tears of frustration in his eyes. It was locked. Of course it was locked.</p><p>He wanted to see if he could break the door open with a kick, like in the movies, but was too afraid to try in case the loud noises attracted George and his gun. In the end David returned back to the single piece of furniture in the whole room, the ratty old mattress. It didn’t look like it was part of the basement and he got a feeling that it had been used to drag him downstairs.</p><p>Hopelessness overtook him. There was no way out except for out of the door which was guarded by George and his gun.  In ordinary circumstances he could at least comfort himself with the knowledge that the police would soon be looking for him. However he knew that wouldn’t be the case this time. If it was night time now, his mother probably hadn’t even realized he ran away. She would bathe Timmy and Sonia, check on the animals and go straight to bed. It was only in the morning that she would notice he wasn’t helping out with the chickens and go to his bed where she would find the note. She would curse, probably call him selfish and mention something along the lines of not realizing she raised such an irresponsible child. But she would respect the note and not look for him, not mention any of this to the police. His father wouldn’t find out for weeks probably and even then he wouldn’t contact the authorities.</p><p>Nobody even knew he was here. David pressed his face into the dirty mattress and burst into tears, the sobs echoing in the small room and turning into wails.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was hours later that he got his second visit from George. This time he wasn’t alone.</p><p>David was left in a half-dazed state where he laid on the mattress with his eyes closed but still unable to sleep. When he heard the familiar sound of keys in the lock, he immediately stood up. It was strange; he couldn’t hear their footsteps from behind the door at all. This room must have been more soundproof than he thought. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage somehow.</p><p>Soon after, George walked in with the gun already aimed at his head. His eyes looked around the room again and when he turned to whisper something behind him, David realized that there was a middle aged woman hiding behind the man’s bulk. He recognized her from the photo he saw in George’s truck; dry, pale hair and a freckled face. Probably his wife, if he could believe the man’s words at all.</p><p>They were both looking around the basement room and whispering among themselves and David decided to use the presence of the wife to plead. She looked more compassionate than her husband.</p><p>“Please just let me go, please” David begged, not daring to make any sharp movements with the gun still aimed in his direction. “I won’t tell anyone about this, I swear, just let me out and I will-“</p><p>“Quiet!” George barked and David shut up immediately, swallowing his words. He could feel cold sweat in his armpits and on his back, sliding down his skin.</p><p>The wife stepped out now and she was holding a large, two-liter coke bottle. It was filled with a see-through liquid that David assumed was water.</p><p>“Drink this” she said and her voice was surprisingly raspy. For a moment David contemplated to attack her; after all she was about the same size as him and old. In a fight he could probably take her and then use her to get past the husband and the gun. But the risks were too great and when she gave him the bottle she was already moving away and the chance passed.</p><p>“What’s this?” he asked, relaxing slightly when George moved the gun away, back to watching the rest of the room.</p><p>“Water” the wife replied impatiently. “Drink it.”</p><p>He knew he shouldn’t; they could have drugged it or poisoned it. But then again if they wanted to kill him they could have done it a long time ago and it’s not like he had any other source of water here. David licked his dry lips and lifted the bottle higher.</p><p>It was pure pleasure. The moment the water passed down his throat, David closed his eyes and greedily gulped down more. He must have drank half of it before he was satisfied. With a loud sigh he put the bottle on the mattress, about to close it when the wife’s voice stopped him.</p><p>“Drink it all, boy.”</p><p>Drugs. They must have given him drugs. Why else would they insist that he should drink the whole bottle in front of them. The water didn’t taste any different but then again what did that prove? There were all kinds of drugs in the world.</p><p>Seeing his obvious hesitance, George lifted the gun again and aimed it at his chest.</p><p>“Do it.”</p><p>Between dying now and several hours later, David chose the more logical choice and grabbed the bottle again. Drinking the rest of it was no longer a pleasure now but a chore. He sealed his fate; how despicable, to be made to kill himself in this manner. Maybe that’s what these two wanted, for him to kill himself so that the cops won’t suspect them. They can just dump his body on the road and make it look like a drug overdose or something.</p><p>After he was done, the woman walked over and took the empty bottle. David didn’t even think about grabbing her this time. What would it matter? He was a dead man walking anyway. Even if he managed to kill them he would still die. Those sick bastards.</p><p>After they got what they wanted, the pair left quickly, locking the door behind them once again. David was left with an uncomfortably full stomach; he could almost feel the liquid sloshing inside of him. Was it drugged or poisoned?</p><p>Fuck, was there really nothing he could do? No way to get rid of it? The only way would be to piss it out but by the time that happened the damage would have already been done.</p><p>Wait! Throw up! He could throw it up!</p><p>David immediately jumped up from the mattress and leaned down, trying to come up with a best position for this. The drain! He could use the drain!</p><p>The boy collapsed on his knees in the corner, peering down the clogged drain. Hopefully the liquid would make it through. He lifted his hand, grimacing at the sight of his dirty nails, and stuck one finger down his throat. The gag reflex worked automatically and he found himself dry heaving two times. On the third he could feel the water rise up and immediately removed his hand.</p><p>Vast amounts of translucent, slightly milky liquid exited his throat, disappearing down the drain. He groaned at the sick feeling in his stomach before repeating the process. He had no way to tell the time but it felt like it took hours. He kept heaving and heaving, insides twisting in protest as more and more water left his body. It felt like exorcising, as if he was cleaning his body of something dirty and harmful. Just when he thought he was done he could feel more liquid pushing past his throat and he lowered his head again. It was agony.</p><p>By the time it was over, David ended up lying on the damp floor, his face covered by tears and drool. He couldn’t feel the sour taste of stomach acid in his throat; he hadn’t eaten for at least a day and the only thing in his stomach was the water he just vomited. He looked down through the drain again with surprise; turns out it wasn’t clogged at all. He could still see dark water moving in the darkness.</p><p>Finally the boy made his way back to the mattress with tired feet. He felt exhausted, as if he ran a marathon. His body wasn’t used to being sick; through his life he was mostly a healthy boy and on a farm you couldn’t really afford being ill. A day off just didn’t happen- if you were sick then you had to go through all your chores despite your discomfort, even with a fever or a swollen eye. Cutting class was acceptable, cutting chores was not.</p><p>As David lay on the mattress, he imagined sleeping in his old bed, about to be woken up for the morning chores. It would be before dawn, the skies still dark and the air fresh as he walked outside to feed the chickens, to do that neat little trick and get the eggs when they were busy. David used to hate waking up early especially before sunrise but he would give anything just to be able to see the dark skies again. Things he had taken for granted were now ripped away from him and his old life in the farm, life that he so often cursed, was a luxury that he could no longer afford.</p><p>‘I will die here,’ David thought with a burning sense of realization. ‘It’s only a matter of time.’</p><p>                 *                                     *                                          *</p><p>He didn’t know how much time had passed but when he woke up again it was because of a hand on his neck. He immediately shot up and only barely avoided George’s bulk.</p><p>“He’s alive,” the man called out and David realized that he did so for the benefit of his wife who was standing by the door. The boy sat up, feeling disoriented and hungry.</p><p>“I don’t get it,” she said and there was a ruffle of a plastic bag; when David glanced her way he saw that she was holding the same black empty one he knew from before. The strangeness of their words left chills on his spine. This surprise at seeing him alive and conscious only strengthened his paranoid fear; they were trying to poison him before. There was something in the water, he was right!</p><p>“Please, let me go,” the boy pleaded but there was no longer any conviction behind the words. At this point he knew that they would not be softened by pleas. Instead the pair continued to talk over him, as if he was an animal that didn’t understand their language.</p><p>“Maybe it takes longer, ya know,” George turned back towards his wife, swiftly leaving the spot by the mattress. David sat up straighter, eyeing the gun with a hot determination that set his chest aflame. Perhaps if he caught the man by surprise he could swiftly take the gun and….</p><p>…and what? Shoot him? He didn’t even know how to use the damn thing! The shotgun appeared huge and heavy in the man’s arms, and David couldn’t even tell if the safety was off. He had no idea how  it worked, he only saw guns on crime shows.</p><p>And even if he managed to wrestle it from George, would he really be able to shoot him? And then shoot his wife? It was such an unthinkable notion that it filled David with dread as soon as he thought about it.</p><p>Perhaps the worst thing about that idea was that the man reminded him of his own absent father. Jonathan Moore was a man of similar stature and presence; ever since David could remember his father inspired a feeling of uncompromising coldness in everyone around him. He never saw him angry and the man never needed to hit his children because they were already intimidated by him. He was positive that Jonathan didn’t even know the names of the twins; he only remembered David because he was the eldest son. His mother said that a lot of his personality came from his father but David never met anyone more different. He was nothing like his father, didn’t even look like him- there was not a single feature, physical or intellectual, that they shared. </p><p>He felt this difference again when faced with George. The man was so impossibly large; compared to David’s boyish frame he almost appeared as a different species. The boy would never win in a fight against him. It was impossible.</p><p>“Maybe,” his wife stated, sounding unsure and then fixing her gaze on David. He looked her straight in the face for the first time and noticed the tired lines under her eyes. She appeared sick and a lot older than he thought previously. The vibrant red color of her hair must have confused him.</p><p>“Go get more water,” the husband ordered and she immediately scurried away. With the door open, David could see a few shelves with boxes and a broken pram on the way to the staircase. Her feet moved slowly, as if the motion required a great deal of energy.</p><p>Left alone with George, the boy continued to sit on the mattress with wary eyes. The shotgun was no longer pointed in his direction but the man’s large figure still spelled danger. George moved towards the door, one foot outside as if he needed a quick escape. David found it very odd. Both the husband and wife never spent a long period of time in the basement room; they were always by the door and keeping their distance. Perhaps they could see his thoughts in his eyes and didn’t want to give him an opportunity.</p><p>This gave him a surge of courage; they did see him as a threat after all. David stood up, taking slow steps towards the direction of the door.</p><p>“Why do you keep me here?” he asked and stopped once the gun was aimed back at his chest. George gave him a startled look, as if he forgot the boy was in the room at all.</p><p>“WHY DO YOU KEEP ME HERE?!”</p><p>The shout visibly affected George and he gripped the gun tighter. For the first time he advanced on David with an intent to harm him.</p><p>“Shut it, you little shit!”</p><p>Heart beating fast, David once again retreated back to the safe area by the mattress with his hands raised in a sign of surrender. George didn’t follow him. The boy felt as if he just avoided a car crash - the sweat on his back turned cold and soaked the first layer of the shirt he was wearing. Shouting at a man with a gun was never a good idea.</p><p>He was interrupted from his thoughts by the steady sound of footsteps. The wife sounded out of breath; whatever she was carrying was heavy.</p><p>“Get in here.”</p><p>She was dragging in a large bottle of water, the same as before and David’s throat clenched at the memory of heaving. Would they make him drink it again? Would he be able to throw it up? Can he even afford to? He hadn’t drunk or eaten properly for at least two days and he didn’t know how long he would last without any substance inside of him. He never went without food or water for longer than a day.</p><p>He expected the wife to thrust the bottle to him, force him in the same manner as during their last visit but instead she moved towards the other side of the room and started to fill up the abandoned bowls and cups littering the floor. It was so strange. David didn’t understand the logic behind it.</p><p>The husband didn’t even give her a glance, this time focused on David with the gun aimed straight. It was only now that David noticed the bowls were not covered with dust like the rest of the room; they clearly did this before, perhaps even brought them down here recently. But for what? It’s like they were keeping a group of rats down here but David never noticed any rodent or even insects in the room. It was somehow strange; there should be at least a spider or two. The complete absence of animal life made him feel wary, especially since the room wasn’t particularly clean.</p><p>“Drink the rest.”</p><p>George’s tone made it clear that he would not take no for an answer.  David didn’t really want to provoke him any further and simply nodded his head a few times. Once again, the water didn’t taste like anything and the boy had to admit it felt good to feel it slide down his throat. Cool and refreshing. He didn’t even realize how thirsty he was until now.</p><p>It didn’t take him long to finish the bottle and the nameless woman took it back from him. She exited the basement room with the hurried footsteps of someone who was trying to escape their demise and when George followed, the only sound in the room was the loud click of a lock. David sat on the mattress with a frustrated sigh.</p><p>He occupied himself by observing the collections of bowls and cups on the floor, trying to see their purpose. They were a large mix of nine. Three were dog bowls with one of them having an actual name plate on front: Laika. The name sounded familiar but he didn’t remember from where.</p><p>The rest looked like kitchen bowls and cups, all of them in perfect condition. Some of them had a strange coating on the rims and when David looked further he could smell that weird smell again, like from the drain. Metal combined with something else he couldn’t place….After a few moments of careful sniffing he managed to identify the smell as sweat. However it didn’t smell gross. Just strange. He wondered how it got on the bowls. Perhaps it was a strange type of a cleaning product.</p><p>Eventually he walked towards the drain and got on his knees, mentally preparing himself for another purging session. Once he began it was much harder than the first time. He wasn’t as full as before and after a while all he managed to do was dry heave, as if his body could tell he didn’t have enough liquid in his system and tried to keep it there by force.  He managed to vomit only some of the water and soon gave up. It would have to be enough.</p><p>He felt sluggish and sick. The hunger passed only to be replaced by a strange, unsatisfying fullness. David started to pace in the cold room in an effort to keep his body functional and healthy. He felt the teeth in his mouth, his tongue gliding against the slick cover of slime that accumulated from not cleaning his teeth for some time. He was dirty and starting to smell.</p><p>When he finally settled his tired body on the mattress, David ended up staring at the ceiling for a long time. His skin felt weird, prickling on the surface and growing numb. It made him alarmed, as if there was something wrong with his body and for a moment David was reminded of the time when the teacher at school talked about atomic bombs and radiation poisoning. Burning of the skin, ulcers in your organs, headaches, weakness, vomiting…</p><p>Perhaps there was something harmful in this room, something that can twist your body and make you sick inside. Maybe that’s why they were so hesitant to stay inside for a longer period of time.</p><p>His thoughts were going in circles and by the time he fell asleep, his dreams were full of burned bodies and a strange black fire slithering towards him like a mass of slugs.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When he woke up the water in the bowls was gone.</p><p>David immediately walked over to the cups, some of them in a different position than he remembered from before he went to sleep. All nine were there, now completely empty and covered by more of the strange coating. David leaned down and hesitantly brought some between his fingers; it felt cool and had a texture of saliva. When he sniffed it he was greeted by the now familiar smell of metal and strange, pleasant sweat. He didn’t dare taste it in case it was poisoned or something worse.</p><p>The pair of psychos must have come inside while he was asleep. He felt unsafe with the fact that he didn’t wake up when it happened. They could have killed him in his sleep.</p><p>But no. It was getting clear now that killing him…or perhaps killing him that way… wasn’t their plan. David wasn’t sure what they wanted or if they in fact wanted anything. They were crazy. Their actions didn’t have to follow any patterns of logic.</p><p>They could be keeping him here just out of some sick pleasure.</p><p>He checked the bowls one by one but there was no more water left. After an hour of aimless walking in circles he felt the need to piss- for the very first time ever since his awakening in the basement. He decided to use the drain as it was conveniently positioned on the lower ground of the floor. The liquid trickled down in a clear stream, almost as colorless as the water he drank. There wasn’t much of it- he probably sweated the rest of the water out. The thought was an unconscious reminder of the layers and layers of sweat that dried on his body.</p><p>Time passed.</p><p>Hour after hour after hour… he was only guessing, using his internal clock to tell the time. It used to be extremely accurate and something that he needed with the daily routine at the farm but now he wasn’t so sure. His only light was a weak light bulb hanging from the ceiling; his only noise the sounds of his own body. It could be night, morning or even afternoon. It could be windy or sunny or raining… David simply couldn’t tell. It was as if the rest of the world didn’t exist outside of these four walls. It was just him and the mattress and the empty cups. Claustrophobic places like these were enough to drive people insane, weren’t they?</p><p>But not him. He was fine. He was ok. He could hold on.</p><p> But for how long?</p><p>Perhaps the worst was the inactivity. He spent his childhood moving, whether it was to play or do chores. David was never one of those kids that spent their afternoon in front of the television or playing video games. It got more intense in his teens when his amount of chores doubled and he was introduced to heavy lifting and the more complicated responsibilities around the farm. All of it required energy and endurance and his body got used to the strain as it was forced to repeat it every day. But there was nothing to do here and his body was weak.</p><p>For a while he tried to gather the courage to try the door, to put his whole body in the kick and somehow force his way out. But after several tries he could feel the toughness of the barrier and the door didn’t even budge. He had no experience with breaking in before and therefore didn’t even know if he was doing it right.</p><p>By the end David lay exhausted on the floor with the door firmly in place and his foot aching. He could now clearly smell his own sweat and the grease in his hair. It was disgusting. He was disgusting. As if he wasn’t even human, just a creature kept caged in a basement. Out of boredom he started to play with the cups, arranging them on top of each other and then smashing them down, like a toddler in kindergarten. He must have repeated the process at least fifty times before the familiar sound of a key in the door announced a next visit.</p><p>The boy immediately scurried off towards the mattress and watched the door open. It was George by himself, this time wearing a ratty white t-shirt that looked like it had been washed too many times. The gun was there again, almost like an extension of the man- David now couldn’t imagine one without the other. It was aimed at his chest.</p><p>The boy didn’t try to talk this time or appeal to his captor in any way. He simply watched him with attentive eyes, trying to find some sort of a purpose in this whole scheme.</p><p>“He’s alive!” George shouted, his face slightly turned towards the stairs. David assumed he was talking to his wife; as far as he knew there was no other occupant in the house.</p><p>Alive. They always kept saying that. He’s alive.  Why do they expect his death so eagerly? Why are they so surprised each time they see him? He’s alive. Of course he is. He threw up the water. But did he really? Enough of it remained for him to piss…Surely he would have felt its effects by now.</p><p>Was the water even poisoned?</p><p>The sound of footsteps and the wife soon appeared within the door. She was looking down on the pile of cups he knocked on the floor; her eyes were wide with surprise.</p><p>“Did ya do this?” she demanded and David didn’t understand for a moment- do what? - but her eyes kept staring at the cups and he made a wild guess.</p><p>“I-I moved them,” he stammered.</p><p>“What did ya do with the water?”</p><p>David didn’t understand the question. Was she asking him if he spilled the water? Clearly they were the ones who came in here while he was asleep.</p><p>“I didn’t- It was like that when I woke up!”</p><p>They were crazy. Or playing some strange kind of mind game to freak him out- none of this made sense! What was so special about those stupid bowls?? And why were they pretending he did something to the water?</p><p>Both the husband and the wife were now staring at the cups with curious expressions until the woman moved forward and David realized she was carrying a large bottle again. She repeated the same process of yesterday, filling each and every bowl with clear liquid that looked and smelled like water. The husband watched her silently.</p><p>When she was done, there was nothing left. David expected to be forced to drink the second one which he saw by George’s feet. His resolve to throw it up was already broken at this point; he was thirsty and hungry and needed at least some water to function any further.</p><p>So when George motioned for him to step closer, David obeyed eagerly. It was only after he was ordered to kneel that the boy hesitated.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Kneel! Ya deaf?” the wife repeated as she opened the large bottle. This was new. David lowered himself, feeling vulnerable and terrified when the gun lowered as well, this time pointed at his head.</p><p>However when the wife lifted the bottle it was clear what they planned to do. David shut his eyes as the cold liquid fell on his hair, travelling down his face and neck and under his shirt. Goosebumps broke on his skin as more and more water drenched his hair and clothes. He parted his lips, trying to quench his thirst as the liquid dripped from his hair and face. By the time she was done, David was shivering violently, his whole body soaked and cold as he kneeled on the stone floor. He felt humiliated for some reason. The action reminded him of the pranks the kids in his school used to play on him when he was little.</p><p>George was mumbling something and David saw the woman nod in agreement. She then walked over to the group of bowls and picked two of them up. When she lifted them up in the same fashion as the bottle, David lowered his head again, already knowing what to expect. The water that she poured on him this time was slightly different than the bottled one. It must have been that strange saliva substance that made it smell differently. It felt disgusting to be covered with it.</p><p>Soon after that they were gone. David could hear their last words (“Ya think it will work?” “Why not?”) before the door closed and the loud sound of the lock signaled he was once again trapped. Shivering and cold, the boy continued to kneel on the floor as if frozen in the moment and it was only his tears that moved down his face.  He was so hungry, so cold- he was going to die in this windowless room, wasn’t he? Die. He was going to starve to death- no guns, no wounds, no poison- just a simple lack of nourishment. He never ever in his life thought that he would starve; that kind of thing happened to kids on the street, to war victims, or stray dogs. He was hardly ever hungry and David wept at his own ignorance, his arrogant ability to take such precious things as food for granted. His mother used to cook the best chicken, with creamy mashed potatoes that melted on the tongue; oh what he would give to taste it again.</p><p>His past complaints- his hate of the farm life and his uncaring parents now seemed as childish selfishness. He had a good life, he was given food and shelter and water. His mother would have never let him starve like this, not even when he wet the bed or got into trouble at school or forgot one of his chores. She would have never been this cruel.</p><p>Even his father, as absent as he was, would have never let him die. As he kneeled on the cold floor, David realized that his parents loved him, in their own strange way. No matter how minimal their affections, they cared about his survival and that was enough, more than enough in his current position.</p><p>Why did he run away, why? He could be bathing little Sonia now, helping Jimmy with his homework, working on the old tractor or setting the table for dinner. There would be no cold, no hunger or hopelessness. He had been so spoiled. So terribly spoiled.</p><p>David cried until there were no more tears left, just painful sobs that wrecked his whole body. Drenched and shivering he finally got up from the floor and started to take off the wet clothes. There wasn’t a blanket or anything to cover himself with and so the best course of action was to curl up on the mattress in his underwear. He couldn’t force himself to undress completely for fear that the crazy pair would return earlier than usual. The clothes were spread out on the floor, and in between the filled bowls they looked like an offering to a spirit. David stared at the two empty cups that lay by the door. He wondered why the wife did something so useless; she just filled the cups and then proceeded to empty them on his head. It smelled strange and tasted slightly sweet, like she added sugar to the liquid.</p><p>David curled up on the mattress, his back almost touching the cold wall as he closed his eyes and tried not to think of the cold. Violent shivers travelled up and down his spine, making the hair on his neck stand up with a tremble.</p><p>To distract himself, David started to think of all the different types of food he would like to eat. Definitely some meat first- chicken with mushrooms. Boiled eggs, two of them with a turkey sandwich and then the giant chocolate cake his mom made whenever they celebrated someone’s birthday…</p><p>The sleepier he got the less cold he felt and by the time the boy dozed off, he wasn’t shivering anymore.</p><p>                *                                           *                                            *                                     </p><p>He woke up suddenly, from an instantly forgotten dream. For a moment the boy wondered what disturbed his sleep, if there was another visit but the room was completely silent. However when he moved to sit up, something in the shadows moved with him and David froze on the spot.</p><p>His first thought was that his clothes were gone. He stared at the empty space where he put them, the ground still slightly wet. When he glanced at the darker side of the room, by the drain there was another small movement in the shadows and once he realized what it was, David immediately stood up and pressed himself against the wall in fear.</p><p>At first he thought it was a snake. A thick black snake. But then it kept moving higher and higher and David realized it didn’t have a head, all thin at the end, instead looking like it belonged to something much bigger. It was a tentacle. A tentacle rising from the drain.</p><p>There was no other way to describe it. The single appendage was slowly curling and rising in the air, about as thick as David’s wrist and blacker than anything the boy ever saw in his entire life.  It was almost as if it didn’t reflect light at all- the texture was completely indistinguishable in the poor lightning.</p><p>The black tentacle hovered in the air for a moment, very still and then slowly started moving in his direction. The sudden movement felt like a punch in the gut.</p><p>“God-“David whined with fear and tried to move even farther but there was no more space, just a cold wall. His stomach was clenched with horror and a certain type of sick familiarity; for some reason it felt identical to his childhood fear of slugs despite the tentacle being the wrong shape.</p><p>He wondered how long it was. Perhaps it wouldn’t be able to reach him; it was at the complete other side of the room. The rest of its body must be in the drain- where he threw up and pissed oh my God- it must have been there the whole time- when he slept- the cups were empty when he woke up- that’s why the crazy couple kept acting so strange- that’s why George kept looking around- that’s why they stayed by the door- they knew it was here and they kept David here despite it, no- not despite it but because of it- they put him here with this thing- “He’s alive!”- always so surprised when he survived and this is why-</p><p>The tentacle moved in the air like a charmed snake, appearing almost hesitant as it continued its journey towards David. From the corner of his eye, the boy saw his discarded clothes which were now by the drain. They appeared different somehow, more dry and rumpled.</p><p>The black creature stopped and David immediately focused his whole attention back on it. It was exactly half-way through the room and seemed to be…hesitating, moving back and forth with skittish jerks. David stared at it desperately, willing for it to go back. Was this the farthest it could reach?</p><p>The boy eyed the invisible line, leaning forward with careful moment only to immediately jerk back when the tentacle moved again. No, it could go farther.</p><p>“Oh God please,” David mumbled softly and the thing stopped again. It slithered through the air, first in the direction of the drain and then back to him with an almost indecisive swirl. David’s body was frozen with horror and he could literally not move an inch. When the tentacle made another swirl forward, the boy’s knees gave out and he collapsed on the ratty mattress with the breath knocked out of him.</p><p>The sudden movement seemed to scare the creature away because it immediately moved back, hiding in the darkness of the drain. For a moment David only stared at the now empty space, trying to understand what just happened.</p><p>It must be a dream.  A nightmare. A hallucination. Yes, this is all just a figment of his imagination, the result of being starved and locked up in this cold stony room for God knows how long. What he just saw couldn’t possibly be true.</p><p>And yet he didn’t have the courage to stand up and walk over to the drain, to check for himself what lurked underneath. Whenever he looked before all he saw was water moving in the darkness but now that he thought about it, the liquid moved in a strange way and it always looked like it was clogged despite the fact that when he threw up the water went in fine.</p><p>David exhaled slowly, trying to calm his panicked mind. When he looked down on himself he realized he was still partially wet; when he felt his hair it was still damp and messy on his head. The mattress underneath him was also slightly soggy and the boy could see his curled outline in it.</p><p>There was a sudden noise and David’s head snapped at attention. He listened, quiet and crouched on the mattress.</p><p>“-please-”</p><p>His eyes widened as he recognized the sound as a human voice. ‘Please’? Was there somebody-?</p><p>“Oh God please!”</p><p>Like bad echo, the cry repeated itself over and over, always with the same intonation and words. It was a terribly familiar voice and with a chill running down his spine, David realized that it belonged to him. It was his own voice. His own-</p><p>“Oh God please!”</p><p>Like a perfect recording, the cry seemed to come from the drain and David gathered the courage to leave the sanctuary of his mattress. Between his fear and curiosity, curiosity won and he carefully made his way through the scattered cups full of water. His frightened breathing was accompanied by a broken record of his own voice.</p><p>“Oh God- Oh God- Oh God- Oh God- Oh God-Oh God-“</p><p>The cry echoed against the stone walls, slightly distorted as if it first had to pass through a different place before coming through the drain. David leaned forward to peer inside its depths, still from a safe distance but he couldn’t see a thing- just blackness. He couldn’t help but notice that the water in the bowls surrounding him was vibrating from the monotone cries. It felt like a soft earthquake.</p><p>When he glimpsed a movement, David scurried off back to the mattress and simply waited. It was only now that he noticed the absolute silence in the room. The strange imitation of his voice has stopped.</p><p>He thought of grabbing one of the bowls as a weapon but they were all the cheap plastic kind and couldn’t be shattered for sharp parts. So he was once again reduced to a vulnerable position of a frightened child as he gazed at the blackness rising from the drain.</p><p>This time it moved differently, more confident- the thing had a clear purpose now. It turned away from him and leaned down towards his crumpled clothes in the corner. The tentacle swiftly wrapped itself around them with a tight grip and it looked clumsy, like an octopus trying to pick up a fork. Then, along with the clothes, the thing moved towards him again and David stood up on the mattress in alarm.</p><p>“Get away!” David barked, remembering how his cry has frightened the creature before. The tentacle stopped, still gripping the clothes.</p><p>“GET AWAY!” His shout was louder now; more confident now that he saw what effect it had on the thing. The tentacle moved back again and dropped the clothes. David felt a surge of victory.</p><p>But then the creature did the strangest thing- it moved but it was like it moved inwards, disappearing into itself. Then suddenly it started to expand and David saw it change shape before his very eyes; instead of a tentacle it now resembled a black plant that was growing at an alarming rate. With its thin end still leading towards the drain, the appendage was now the size of David’s torso and looked like a black deformed flower. The boy could see the individual lines woven together and it reminded him of a large number of slugs squashed together to create a bigger organism. Was there a thing on this earth that could do that? It was terrifying and fascinating at the same time. He couldn’t tear his eyes away.</p><p>The creature throbbed, as if it had an actual pulse going through its black form and when David concentrated on it he could see that it was steady but slower than a human one. The sluggish tempo was extremely hypnotizing and the boy found himself mesmerized.</p><p>The very end tips of the creature suddenly vibrated. A loud voice echoed through the room.</p><p>“Get away!”</p><p>It was very clear now that it were his own words returned back to him. There was no electronic device anywhere on the thing, just pure black organism. Being so close, David could tell it came directly from the centre of the flower-shaped blackness. Its tips vibrated with the sound, sensitive.</p><p>David tried to swallow his fear and opened his mouth to say something else. If this thing could repeat everything he was saying, then perhaps it could understand him as well.</p><p>“What are you?”</p><p>There was no face to talk to; he couldn’t even see the creature’s eyes. Perhaps its real body was hiding underneath the drain but David still tried to look directly at the centre of the throbbing flower as he talked.</p><p>The response was instantaneous.</p><p>“What are you? GET AWAY-Y-away! Go-o-o-od-!”</p><p>The jumble of words sounded like a broken recording; a satellite with bad reception that kept disfiguring a news reporter’s voice. David leaned even farther away, trying to decipher the meaning of the words.</p><p>“You want me to go away?” he asked with a whisper.</p><p>“You want me to go away- AWAY!!- away?”</p><p>The response made no sense. Was it just repeating everything he said? Did the thing even understand him?</p><p>And then suddenly the creature moved again and all thoughts left David’s head, instantly replaced by panic. The transformation was subtle and quick; one of the tips suddenly separating itself from the rest and shooting upwards. Once it was long enough it curled downwards and it was in the shape of a tentacle, thinner than the first one David has seen. It hovered over the boy’s head.</p><p>Jesus Christ- Jesus fucking Christ-</p><p>“-away?”</p><p>David shut his eyes in fear, unable to face the situation. For some reason all he could think about were slugs and that terrifying moment of his childhood when he felt the cold sensation under his shirt. Shivers of terror whipped his spine and when something touched his head, David let out a terrified scream.</p><p>There was an opposing sound- a metallic screech of some kind that rang in his head like a bell- and when he opened his eyes again the creature was gone. All he saw was a brief movement from within the drain and then nothing.</p><p>David collapsed on the mattress.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He was too afraid to touch the discarded clothes- after all they have come in contact with the creature- but in the end the cold won and David reluctantly dressed himself to avoid pneumonia.</p><p>Strangely enough they were already dry. David wrinkled his nose at the strange smell; it was the same mixture of metal and musk that came from the creature itself and the saliva like substance it left on the bowls. It was certainly an improvement over his body odor. The impromptu wash he was given by the woman only managed to get him wet without actually washing him. He still stank of sweat and his hair was slowly but steadily returning back to its greasy state. The boy didn’t even notice the bad taste in his mouth anymore; he couldn’t tell whether it was a result of his starved state or lack of proper mouth hygiene.</p><p>It felt as if he spent a week down here but he knew that couldn’t be true. Surely he would have starved to death by that time; wasn’t six days without food the limit? Or maybe it was ten?</p><p>He didn’t know but it sure felt like he was reaching his limit. He had no energy to move or even think. He just felt tired and his stomach hurt. Before he knew it, David fell asleep again, sitting on the mattress with his back pressed against the cold wall.</p><p>When he woke up again it was to a familiar, booming shout.</p><p>“He’s alive!”</p><p>Alive. David didn’t feel alive. All of this felt like a bizarre dream that would end with his death.</p><p>When he opened his eyes he saw George standing by the mattress. The wife was peering at them from within the door as usual.</p><p>“I saw it,” the boy said weakly. For a moment the man ignored him, returning towards the door like a jailer but then David raised his voice and repeated “I saw it. That thing you keep here. I saw it.”</p><p>George turned around and his face was darkened with shock. The wife froze in the doorframe, clearly hearing the comment as well.</p><p>Now that he had their complete attention, David couldn’t help begging one more time. It would be a miracle if they listened to him now.</p><p>“Please…let me go. I won’t tell anyone…just let me go and I will never tell anyone about any of this, about that thing, about this place…please…”</p><p>“He’s alive…” the wife repeated, her voice hollow and she stared at him with a face that suggested she wasn’t listening to a thing he just said. David watched the pair converse with a great feeling of helplessness hanging over his head.</p><p>“But he saw-“</p><p>“Maybe he’s different.”</p><p>“Please,” David begged but it was as if he was invisible. He wasn’t a human being in their eyes just…just a piece of meat, food for their monster. A plaything that keeps mysteriously surviving.</p><p>The pair started to talk to each other again with hushed voices and dark faces. David could only watch them helplessly through tired eyes. His vision was very whitish, the corner of his eye like a fog that kept spreading to the rest of the view.</p><p>He must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew was that there was something pressing against his mouth and a loud voice in his ear.</p><p>“Wake up!”</p><p>David’s first thought was that he was saved, that the rescue finally came but when he opened his eyes he was met with the steady gaze of his captor. George was holding what looked like a ham sandwich in front of the boy’s face, obviously intending to feed him.</p><p>“Eat it.”</p><p>It could be poisoned, it could very well kill him, but at this point David simply didn’t give a damn. He opened his mouth eagerly and started to chew on the bread. It felt so good- like the best food in the world and he nearly choked because of his eagerness, opening his mouth even wider to take more of the sandwich in. The bread was soft, the ham slightly cold and he moaned in pleasure at the taste of butter that was spread unevenly in between. He got in three bites before it was taken away from him.</p><p>The man was standing by the mattress, holding the unfinished sandwich away from his reach. In the weak light of the room David couldn’t see his face, only a vague dark outline of where his head should be.</p><p>“Please…let- let me,” he mumbled, his mouth still half-full with bread. Let me go.</p><p>“I don’t know what it wants with ya,” George said with a low voice. “Maybe it wants to eat ya, play, lay its eggs…I don’t really care. The point is that ya’r never getting out. If it doesn’t kill ya like the ones before… then you’re just gonna stay in this room. Forever. Do you understand me?”</p><p>It was such a plain cruel truth that he couldn’t comprehend it. His mind was stuck on the words ‘lay its eggs’ and it was as if someone put the phrase on loop, circling around in his mind until it lost its meaning completely and just became a random combination of letters. Lay its eggs lay its eggs lay its eggs lay its eggs…!</p><p>The man was still talking and David found it so ominous that he went ahead and explained the situation. This was the most he ever talked to the boy.</p><p>“I will come tomorrow and if ya still alive I’ll bring food.”</p><p>The half eaten sandwich fell on David’s chest, tossed there like garbage.  He immediately grabbed at it with weak hands.</p><p>As soon as George left, the boy sat up and greedily bit into the large sandwich. He forced himself to eat slowly, carefully as not to upset his empty stomach. His mother always said that eating fast was bad for his tummy.</p><p>Once he was finished he thoroughly licked his fingers clean and focused on the room once more. Before, he could more or less differentiate between each day; his inner clock was precise and woke him up each morning at six o’clock straight. But now after experiencing a stiffness in his body that signaled too much sleep, David realized he had absolutely no idea what time it was, what day it was or even what date. Before he could guess the number of days but now it was as if he was in a different universe where there was no time, just visits from the outside. And who knew whether even those were regular.</p><p>George said that he would come tomorrow. David decided to trust his words and count the time in-between as a day and a night.</p><p>He stood up to stretch his legs which had become stiff after so much inactivity. He did a few squats and walked over to the drain. There was no sign of the strange creature, all he could see was murky water moving in the darkness. At this point he wasn’t even sure if that was water. Maybe it was another part of the creature’s body- the way that thing changed its shape was very liquid-like in appearance. He turned his gaze towards the scattered bowls full of water. Were these for the creature? To…drink? No, to…absorb? Like a plant?</p><p>It didn’t look like any animal David knew so maybe it was a plant of some sort. That was ok then- plants didn’t eat people. Well the ones he knew; perhaps this was some sort of a rare flesh eating flower from a jungle or something.</p><p>But no, David remembered the creature very well and it didn’t look like anything from this planet. Naturally this begged the question: was this thing even from Earth? Perhaps it was an alien plant for of some kind. That would explain how it could copy his voice and the strange odor. He could smell it even now, coming from the drain, the bowls, his own clothes…</p><p>He was covered with it. It wasn’t really a stink as much as an unusual aroma; metallic and organic at the same time.</p><p>Suddenly a sharp sickness pierced through his belly and David’s gag reflex kicked in on its own. He barely managed to keep it in before he heaved and the boy desperately covered his mouth with both of his hands. The sandwich was clearly not agreeing with his empty stomach and David frantically tried to keep the precious food in. After a few minutes the worst of the sickness passed and he could breathe normally again.</p><p>He was obviously still very weak. It was a struggle to get back on the mattress and David huffed in relief once he made himself comfortable.</p><p>He couldn’t afford to fall asleep again. George’s words were echoing in his head, as if somebody shouted them from the top of a mountain: ‘Lay its eggs’….’If it doesn’t kill ya like the ones before’…</p><p>There were others here before him. This room housed other people, perhaps young boys like him, and they were killed by that creature, used and then torn apart. Jesus. That’s why George kept carrying that empty plastic bag the first few days- he was expecting to pick up his body…or whatever was left of it. Jesus fucking Christ…</p><p>He was kidnapped and trapped in here like an animal, a pig prepared for slaughter. No wonder he wasn’t given any food or drink before; the couple expected him to die right away. It’s only after he survived here for a couple days that they realized he needed food. They didn’t want him dead, they didn’t want to kill him…themselves. Obviously they were expecting the black thing to do the job, he was in fact prepared for the creature, served on a silver platter.</p><p>The gun wasn’t what he should have been worrying about. It was the drain.</p><p>David turned his head towards the darkest corner of the room, staring at the hole in the ground with terrified eyes. It will come out, maybe in a minute, an hour, or even the next day but it will definitely come out and he would have to confront it again. He wasn’t sure how big it was, its capabilities or intentions; so far it only seemed to react to loud noises.</p><p>There was something else, something he was missing and the boy glanced down at the bowls full of water that glinted in the weak light of the bulb. Those were not for his benefit; the wife was extremely touchy about them. She filled the cups, gave him some water and left. When he woke up the liquid was gone and the cups were empty. He thought it was the pair’s doing but it was clear now that the creature needed water.</p><p>That’s why…that’s why they drenched him so thoroughly. They wanted to speed things along, to get the creature interested in him because of the water…</p><p>David curled on himself, sitting on the mattress with steady eyes. His gaze was directed at the drain in the ground with sharp intensity.</p><p>That creature will come up again, it will need to drink. And when it does David will be ready for it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He didn’t know how much time had passed but it must have been at least five hours when he noticed a movement from the corner of his eye. He was dropping off, lids heavy and lowered as his eyes begged him for rest. He was starved for sleep.</p><p>When he noticed the movement for a second he thought it was a piece of his fringe in the way and he brushed his hair back. The boy’s locks were messy and greasy in a way that he never experienced; this was the longest his hair ever went without washing. For a moment everything was still again and David put his head back on the top of his bended knees, deep in thought. But when the movement returned he knew that the creature was back.</p><p>He was shocked to realize that the tentacle was already out of the drain, slithering on the shadowy corner like a snake. His heartbeat sped up immediately; how did he not notice it emerge from the drain? His eyes were fixed on that same spot this whole time!</p><p>The boy abandoned his sitting position, now standing on top of the mattress with shaking hands. The black snake moved slowly but steadily and was making its way to the nearest bowl. David held his breath as he watched it rise and put its thin tip in the center of the cup. It stayed like that for some time and the boy realized it must be absorbing the water. Curious, he took one step forward and stood on his tip-toes to see better but all he could glimpse was the edge of the bowl.</p><p>Once it was done the tentacle moved away and David could not see any distinguishable difference; it was as thick and black as before. It curled slightly, making a little twirling motion in the air before moving towards the closest bowl and starting the process all over again. With dread, David watched the creature go through all the laid out cups, absorbing the water one by one and getting closer to his side of the room. The very last bowl was the largest and positioned right next to the edge of the mattress. David could only watch in horror as the thing stretched even farther, seemingly never-ending, and started drinking from the last bowl.</p><p>Being so close, he could see the process very clearly; the tip of the tentacle opened in two and sucked the water inside. He saw the liquid slowly disappear until only the damp bottom remained. The snake made that strange motion again, like a twirl, before turning towards him. David clenched his fists, sweaty and frightened.</p><p>“Don’t come near me,” he whispered, his voice abandoning him along with his courage. The snake rose even higher and started to change shape. It grew larger, wide throbbing petals sprouting from the sides to form the flower that the boy saw before. When David looked at the drain he froze in fear; the black appendage was no longer sprouting from its inside. This wasn’t the creature’s limb or a small part of it reaching from within the hole- this was its complete form. Shape-changing black…substance.</p><p>“Don’t come near me?”</p><p>The creature replied, copying his words only to change the pitch at the end, artificially raising it to turn the sentence into a question. It was so bizarre; David felt like he was having a conversation with himself.</p><p>The creature started to shift slightly, moving from left to right as if trying to observe him from different angles. David didn’t even know if it could in fact see him; the thing didn’t seem to have eyes anywhere on its body or anything that resembled a face of any kind. Maybe it could smell or taste him in the air. The boy found the idea disgusting.</p><p>Suddenly the black flower raised high above him, spreading its organic petals even wider as if to embrace him. David shrieked in horror and shut his eyes. He was about to open them again but suddenly felt a lukewarm liquid make contact with his hair. The water-like stream fell on top of his head and shoulders, soaking into his clothes in a very much the same way as when the wife dumped the bottle at him. Glaring through the current, David glanced up only to find the water exit from the center of the creature’s flowery shape.</p><p>He didn’t know what it was. The liquid had the texture of water and was lightly blue colored; its temperature was lukewarm and reminded David of blood or piss. He accidently got some into his mouth and instantly spit it out, revolted. It tasted sickeningly sweet and had an aftertaste of chemicals.  When he tried to move the creature changed shape again and two thick tentacles hit the wall on either side of his body, effectively trapping him in. David froze on the spot, not wanting to prompt the creature into action.</p><p>The whole ritual didn’t last very long and soon the current weakened and then stopped altogether. When David saw the tentacles on his side start to move he immediately froze and couldn’t help his gasp of horror when they moved towards his arms and made contact through the soaked clothes.</p><p>The sensation was bizarre. It felt like a snake would, and lightly brushed against his limbs as if by accident. David shivered in repulsion. The motion wasn’t stroking but rather patting; like a child molding a castle in the sandbox. The boy was stiff under the touch and let the creature do as it wanted. He didn’t know whether this was by choice or whether he could actually move his body at all.</p><p>Time passed. David felt each second agonizingly slow, aware that it might be his last. But the more pats and strokes he received, the clearer it became that the creature’s intentions weren’t hostile, at least not for the time being. It looked like it was simply examining his form, or perhaps spreading the strange liquid over places where it didn’t reach. It didn’t feel any different from regular water; there was no burning or tingling.</p><p>The boy could only stare at the thing in silent anticipation that was eating him from the inside. ‘What do you want from me?’ he thought and then decided to voice the question out loud.</p><p>“What do you want from me?”</p><p>There was no response, only patting. It moved from his sides to his head and neck and the thick tentacles divided themselves into several thin ones, like a deformed sort of a hand. He could feel each individual strand brush his hair, slowly turning and twisting as they tried to feel the surface of his scalp. It wasn’t an exactly painful sensation; it felt a bit like he had a group of tangled snakes in his hair.</p><p>Just when he started to get used to the sensation, the two large appendages wrapped themselves around his forearms and lifted. David was elevated with a strength that took his breath away and when his feet were lifted from the ground he knew that this was the end.</p><p>“Please, no” the boy whispered and then with a strong tug he was lifted even higher, like a small child. The strength behind the movement tore a scream from his throat and the panicked cry echoed through the whole room. There was a flash of black in front of him and suddenly David was falling, landing awkwardly back on the mattress. There was no sign of the black creature, only a slight movement from behind the drain. David stared at the shadowy corner with frightened eyes, trying to understand what just happened.</p><p>He was touched by the creature…but he survived.</p><p>The boy immediately started to rub at his arms, trying to get the blood flowing and simultaneously attempting to get the strange liquid off his body. When that didn’t work he twisted and rubbed against the mattress to get the most of it off, at least from his hair and face. After he was done, the cover of the mattress was covered by bluish stains in the shape of a human face. It stared up at David with the blankness of a ghost that looked nothing like him.</p><p>Was there a word for this feeling he was experiencing right now? Fear, but more; something that gripped him much deeper on an infantile level and returned him to his roots. He felt this way before, when he was a little boy and went through that strange fixation with slugs. The way he wet the bed, the way he was too terrified to even fall asleep, left only to let the exhaustion embrace him and knock him out. That wasn’t life, that was just a state of being. He was trapped in an existence of terror of something unseen, something that might materialize and strike any second.</p><p>It was so exhausting that David wasn’t even able to pick himself up from the mattress. It was only hours after that his aching bladder forced him to stand up over one of the large pots and carefully pee into it. His aim wasn’t perfect because of his constant jitters and he managed to spill quite a lot of piss on the sides and the floor next to it. The stink of urine was very hard to escape in such small quarters but the smell covering his body was much sharper; by now it was familiar with its organic odor mixed with metal.</p><p>His hair and clothes were plastered to his body, slowly drying in the still air of his cell. He felt sticky, grimy and disgusting. His rotting mouth still tasted sweet, the strange chemical flavor mixing with the remains of the sandwich on his dirty teeth made him want to hurl.</p><p>Tears came but it was as if it was just another one of his bodily functions, something born out of habit and he didn’t acknowledge it. The boy walked over to the door and after a long moment of silence threw himself at it.</p><p>“LET ME OUT!”</p><p>He tried harder this time, the impact so painful that it took his breath away. It took him a few minutes to recover but once he could move the boy tried again, throwing himself against the large door with a deranged scream.</p><p>“LET ME OUT!”</p><p>It felt hypnotic to cause himself pain this way, to chant those words in such a loud voice. He didn’t even realize he was still crying until his vision blurred.</p><p>“LET ME OUT OF HERE!”</p><p>His shoulder crashed against the firm barrier and pain blossomed through his whole arm, paralyzing him for a short terrifying moment. Stepping away to give himself some starting space, David charged again and this time the impact was strong, so powerful that he cried out in pain and collapsed.</p><p>He fell badly, slipping on the wet floor and crashing down with his head hitting the stone. The last thing he saw was the door; undamaged, unaffected and untouchable.</p><p>                  *                                        *                                      *</p><p>There was some noise, somebody briefly touching him and then silence. David drifted in and out of consciousness, dreaming of the sea that slowly shrunk and turned into a bath, the shabby one they had back home. His mother used to wash him there when he was very little and he hated the bathroom with passion. Whenever his mother was angry and screaming he had a terrible fear that she would drown him; simply force his head down in the shallow water and not let go until he stopped trashing. He didn’t know why he felt this way but perhaps there was an incident in the bath when he was too little to remember. David had been a very paranoid child.</p><p>The feeling of falling asleep in the bath was so strong that when David opened his eyes he expected to be back in the old bathroom. However all that greeted his eyes was blackness; stretched out all around him for miles as he tried to find his bearings. It took him an alarmingly long time to even realize his own position; it was so dark that the boy couldn’t see his body at all. Apparently he was curled in a compact sleeping position with his knees pressed against his chest. When David moved there was a sound of liquid splashing and he realized that he was submerged in a shallow body of water. It was slightly warmer than his own skin and very soothing against his pained body. Why did his shoulder hurt so much? Oh yes, he was trying to get through the door…?</p><p>He felt sleepy and comfortable and found it hard to think coherent thoughts. The boy carefully lifted one hand and reached into the darkness only to encounter a barrier right in front of his face. When he put both of his hands on it the barrier slightly rippled under his touch and there was a loud rumbling noise all around him, like a motor rumbling or a cat purring. David repeated the touch, moving up and down until the barrier rippled even harder, spiking up under his touch and then evening out again.  It felt smooth and soft and fragile.</p><p>When he poked his finger inside the barrier shifted, stretched and then parted. When bright light hit his eyes, David automatically turned his face away. The light was too intense and his eyes watered at the effort but when he finally managed to face the brightness, David blinked with disorientation.</p><p>It was the basement. He was in the damn basement.</p><p>The boy looked around, watching the blackness around him turn to individual strands. The process was like unweaving an enormous basket made of fine black strands; the thing was huge, at least three times larger than when he saw it last. The slick sphere around him started to unravel and change form. He realized that he had been inside the creature. Inside its body.</p><p>The thought of that was too strange, too unthinkable for him to comprehend at the moment. Instead the boy let instincts take over and he started to crawl out of the black mass, the substance changing shape underneath his hands and knees. He could see it spike up, like a cat bristling.</p><p>“What do you want from me?”</p><p>David’s own voice echoed through the room and the boy recognized the sentence from their previous encounter. He felt weak and helpless as he continued to crawl away from the thing. He noticed that the little bowls positioned all around the room were already filled with water. There was a crumpled piece of paper on top of the mattress that hid something inside. By its shape David would guess it was another sandwich and he eagerly changed his direction.</p><p>However before he could even lift his hand, something enveloped his waist in a tight grip and the boy was effortlessly lifted into the air. He felt sick with the pressure put on his stomach but any kind of movement only intensified the strain so David simply grit his teeth and worked through the pain.</p><p> This was it. This was the moment he would die, eaten in some terrible way, perhaps trapped inside that creature forever, or decapitated in the most gruesome manner.</p><p>When he was dragged back towards the black mass, he was seated in his original place, the tentacle slithering away from his waist and hovering nearby, as if expecting him to move again. David stared at it with wide eyes.</p><p>“What do you want from me?”</p><p>Silence.</p><p>“What do you want-?”</p><p>The question seemed to be filled with more meaning now, the last two words cut off. David continued to sit in an awkward position that put strain on his thighs and back; he was too terrified to make more skin contact with creature than necessary. It was all around him now, like a giant black nest.</p><p>“What do you want-?”</p><p>“I want food,” David said, his voice high with fear and sounding like it belonged to a stranger. He didn’t know if the creature could understand him but some kind of connection must have happened because one of the large tentacles slithered around the room. It grabbed one of the bowls filled with water.</p><p>“-food?”</p><p>The broken recording of his voice repeated.</p><p>“That’s…that’s water,” David replied, hoping that he wasn’t making a huge mistake. The tentacle stilled for a moment, unmoving and then put the bowl down and started slithering through the air again. It stopped by the sandwich and David straightened up with expectation.</p><p>“-food?”</p><p>“Yes, yes, that’s food,” the boy agreed immediately and watched with eager eyes as the tentacle moved back towards its large black body. The sandwich was dropped in David’s lap. The tentacle joined the rest of the pulsing substance and formed enormous petals around his sitting figure. He thought the creature would envelope him again like before and trap his body inside its smooth blackness but the thing seemed content to simply stay in place.</p><p>It wasn’t hurting him.</p><p>“Thank….you,” the boy replied after a moment of silence. He couldn’t believe he just had an actual conversation with…with an alien, a sentient creature, a monster. It was like something out of a comic book.</p><p>Feeling like he was dreaming, the boy carefully unwrapped the sandwich and bit into it. The ingredients were slightly different from yesterday (tomato was added to the mix) but the overall size was the same. It wasn’t enough to keep him satisfied before the next delivery but it was enough to keep him alive. His stomach was already shrunk from the starvation of the previous days.</p><p>As he ate David noticed one of the bigger appendages tear itself away from the petal formation on his right and move closer. The tentacle was heading in his direction, swaying in the air like a charmed snake. The boy stared at it with a full mouth and hypnotized eyes.</p><p>The black snake moved towards his waist, wrapping around it in one lazy circle. David swallowed the food, expecting to be lifted again but there was no pressure against is body. The thing simply stayed where it was, squirming against him and then unwrapping and moving up to his chest. There it repeated the process.</p><p>It was a strange sensation, to feel that slithering substance against his body like this. It was firm and appeared incredibly flexible, like a human tongue. It wasn’t squeezing him or touching him too roughly; instead the process seemed experimental and even reminded David of a hug. His mother was never a really affectionate woman and his father always reserved his touches for his wife. David was used to hugging his younger siblings and so it was strange to be enveloped by something much bigger than him.</p><p>Not that there was anything normal about this situation in any shape or form. David was still half convinced that it was all a dream.</p><p>The creature steadily moved from his chest to his neck to his arms and thighs and legs and then returned back to his waist. David imagined this is how it would feel like having your measurements taken at a tailor. It was something his mother had to have done for special occasions but he was never allowed to come along and observe.</p><p>Eventually the boy finished the sandwich, his rumbling stomach satisfied at least for the moment. The creature was now holding onto his leg, tentacle wrapped around it with a gentle yet firm grip. David shifted slightly, adjusting his position so that he could have a clearer look and when he lifted a hand to lightly poke at the still tentacle, the creature’s skin spiked. It seemed to work similarly to goose bumps and travelled through the whole mass surrounding his body. It was strange and yet very pleasing to the eye, kind of like those performances on TV that had a lot of people doing the same motion from a bird’s eye view.</p><p>He moved his hand away, not wanting to anger the creature. Then his eyes fell on the bowls scattered around the room and the clear liquid inside. His thirst let itself be known with an almost painful intensity and he immediately started to move in the direction of the nearest cup. When something pulled him back he didn’t struggle anymore and simply let himself be dragged back towards the black mass.</p><p>“Water,” the boy explained, hoping that he would be understood. Instantly one of the tentacles lifted and moved towards the larger bowl. It settled the thing right in front of David and then moved to hold onto the boy’s waist once again. It felt like a safety rope.</p><p>“That’s…that’s water.”</p><p>“Thank you,” he answered politely and started to drink. The water was not completely clean, still mixed with that strange slime that smelled like metal. It was everywhere around him and on him, now simply becoming an odor that he stopped noticing. However the water tasted fresh and pleasantly sweet; David finished the whole bowl with a loud sigh of satisfaction.</p><p>Feeling light-headed, he wondered if there was something wrong with his head, if he had perhaps hit it too hard when he fell on the floor. He tried to communicate with the thing, wanting to be let go to rest on the mattress but had no energy to explain further and so he just simply lay down on the swarming blackness and closed his eyes.</p><p>There was a sense of shifting, the world around him changing and then blackness. When he felt warm water splash against his body, David fell asleep. He kept telling himself that if the creature wanted to kill him, it would have done so a long time ago.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The thing was smart, maybe even smarter than humans.</p><p>Over the course of the next day David started to fill in gaps in their communication. He found the creature to be an extremely quick learner and himself to be a rather enthusiastic teacher. There was no problem with pronunciation since it was always his own voice offering a response; the meaning of the words however was a different thing altogether. Especially if it described an action rather than an object.</p><p>“Push,” David said and knocked the empty stacked bowls on the floor. Their clattering echoed in the small room, providing the only background noise to their strange game.</p><p>The creature was in its usual flower form, now slightly elongated and human sized. It was settled next to the boy and spiked up at the loud noise.</p><p>“Good!” the creature stated, seemingly excited. He could tell by its rippling mass. ‘Good’ was the preferred phrase when something seemed interesting or pleasing like absorbing water or David moving his body. ‘Bad’ was reserved for loud noises and David moving away in the middle of a game.</p><p>So far the words he managed to teach were ‘water’, ‘food’, ‘David’, ‘what’, ‘good’, ’bad’, ‘again’, ‘sleep’ and ‘down’ which really just meant he wanted to be let go.</p><p>“Ok. Now you try,” the boy said and leaned forward to stack up the bowls again. He managed to balance four different ones to create a fragile tower in the middle of the room. When it seemed stable enough he turned towards the creature and said “Push!”</p><p>With one sharp flick the cups were thrown against the wall, banging loudly as they left dents in the stone wall. David couldn’t help but flinch at the unexpected violence of the hit. If it was his head instead of those plastic cups then it would already be cracked open like an egg. He didn’t even realize that the thing possessed such an enormous power.</p><p>“Good?” came the response, pitch raised and questioning.</p><p>“Good,” David replied, deep in thought. If he managed to get the creature to do this to George during the next visit, it could completely immobilize him and grant David his freedom. It was a very attractive concept because of its simplicity; he could train the creature to attack on his behalf instead of doing it himself.</p><p>However this proved to be much harder than he thought. The first problem was that the thing didn’t seem to want to escape at all. David was convinced that it had the power to tear the basement door down, key or no key, but the creature was completely uninterested in it. When David kept urging it to ‘push’ the door, his new companion let out a low rumbling electronic sound that reverberated through the whole basement. It then grabbed him in what was now a familiar grip around his waist and carried his body back to the black mass.</p><p>And that was the end of that attempt. David never really had the courage to push the issue. He had yet to anger the creature but judging by its flexibility, strength and the few seconds it took to grow into enormous proportions, David knew that it wasn’t a wise thing to test. If it turned against him there was nowhere to run.</p><p>His best indicator of how dangerous his current roommate really was ended up being George’s reaction during the man’s next visit.</p><p>David was trying to communicate with the creature, having just woken up and attempting to untangle himself enough to go take a piss into one of the empty bowls. It proved to be harder than it looked because the thing treated his attempts like a game; a cat toying with a mouse. It was pulling at his hair and clothes with lazy tugs that despite their gentleness were extremely effective in keeping him from escaping. David was getting very tired with this particular game and was about use more force when suddenly he was lifted into the air and then enveloped by four thick tentacles.</p><p>The sound of key turning.</p><p>Movement from the door.</p><p>Without knowing what happened, David was dragged to the complete corner of the room, down towards the shadows and the drain. The black snakes were partially obscuring his vision and he had to peek over them to see George’s large figure entering the room. The man stopped in the doorway and stared at them for a very long time; he was aiming the shotgun at the largest part of the creature.  Could it even be hurt by a bullet?</p><p>David stretched, trying to wake his tired body and the movement seemed to have woken George up who stepped away and called his wife. The woman let out a soft gasp when she walked through.</p><p>“My God.”</p><p>It was the same each time they saw him but only now that he was protected by the creature, the pair seemed genuinely shocked. This was clearly not what they expected.</p><p>David could feel the black mass vibrate all around him, tense and powerful.</p><p>“Push,” he said but nothing happened. He didn’t really expect his order to be obeyed.</p><p>After they got over the initial shock, the routine resumed with the bowls being filled with water, one by one like some kind of a pagan ritual. George kept pointing the gun in his direction and David continued to hide behind the black snakes with wide eyes watching the couple’s every move. For the first time it occurred to him that he must look absolutely disgusting to them; he hadn’t washed in at least two weeks and he was constantly covered by that strange bluish liquid excreted from the creature. He couldn’t see his face but his arms were grimy, covered with layers of filth.</p><p>David didn’t ask for help anymore. He knew that it wasn’t he and them against the creature anymore. It was his new companion that was his only ally.</p><p>The pair soon left, leaving the usual paper covered bundle on the floor. It was only when the door closed that the tentacles in front of him parted and he was allowed to leave its restraint.  The boy immediately hopped over to the drain and awkwardly unzipped his jeans with his full bladder urging him to move faster.  The stream was strong and very long; when he felt the creature slither behind him he grimaced in disgust, aware of the thing’s nasty habit of absorbing his urine. A liquid was a liquid he supposed and he was really just pissing out what he drank but it was still kind of gross. However his sense of disgust was steadily changing the longer he was trapped in this basement and David suspected that with enough time he would be fine with anything.</p><p>He steadily stopped feeling afraid and wary of the creature and started to accept it as a part of his new life; the boy’s days have fallen into a routine of black snakes and water.</p><p>He always slept surrounded by the black barrier and woke up feeling safe, warm and relaxed. It was a very claustrophobic position to sleep in and it was almost strange how at home he felt there; the mass shielded him from the ever constant shine of the cheap light bulb and provided intimate darkness. Perhaps it was the combination of that and a small space, warmth and wetness that created such a strong sensation of familiarity. Like a womb. It was a rather disgusting comparison but very apt.</p><p>He knew that the creature needed water, liquid to survive. It seemed to be able to change shape and size and still be able to keep spare fluid inside its form; when David slept he was submerged in a shallow body of water that was kept inside the black mass. He was constantly soaked in it and often whenever he was drying up, the creature would simply spray him as if one would spray a plant. He wondered whether his new companion thought that David was cut from the same cloth and needed constant liquid to survive or if there was another reason, like changing his smell.</p><p>He could no longer smell his own body odor which really was a relief; unwashed and disgusting he would probably repulse even himself. Instead now he smelled almost metallic with a sharp but somehow clean organic scent that was so unfamiliar it couldn’t belong to a human.  After a few days he stopped noticing it; a week after he forgot the smell completely.</p><p>He always got the same food regularly; a sandwich with some meat and cheese and his body grew used to the small food portions. David noticed that he lost weight, his ribs appearing even more visible than normal and his legs felt bony and sharp as he poked at them through the dirty jeans. This also changed his digestion process; in the past he used to shit once a day but this has been lowered to once every four days. He always did his business using one of the empty bowls, wiped himself with the torn remains of paper and then covered it with another to somehow reduce the stink. The creature seemed interested in its contents only briefly, obviously not containing enough liquid to be seen as desirable.</p><p>With his lack of fear and terror, a new emotion gradually managed to seep in and David started to feel bored. His days were spent trapped in an empty room surrounded by four walls and his new companion was his only distraction. Fortunately the creature was a master of many shapes and forms and possessed an endless fascination with David’s lanky human body. Just the movement of the boy’s small fingers as he attempted to fold the paper wrappers into an origami provided hours of amusement and countless attempts at imitations.</p><p>And David quickly learned that imitation was one of the creature’s biggest talents.</p><p>“This is one, two, three, four…” he counted slowly, raising his fingers with each number. The tentacle in front of him was currently wearing the shape of a hand, appearing boneless and slimy as it tried to copy David’s movements.</p><p>“Again,” the creature demanded and David obeyed with a smile. He made the careful motions with his fingers, seeing the black limb try to copy it. There was something off about it and the boy thought it had something to do with joints or bones; they weren’t at the right angle. It looked strange.</p><p>That day was spent on the ceiling. David remained suspended in the air, using the long powerful appendages as a swing set that he rarely got to experience as a child. It was very easy to persuade his companion to hoist him up like that; once the creature understood what he wanted, it excitedly lifted him up and started swinging with enthusiasm. Perhaps too much. David had to stop it before he threw up all over himself from the violent motions and the two of them ended up simply hanging from the ceiling.</p><p>“Wrong,” David said and his companion let out a loud bristling sound that was a good indicator of its current frustration.</p><p>“It’s fine, it’s fine!” the boy protested, amused at the complete lack of patience.  “Look, you just have to make sure it bends here because the bone goes like this…” he pointed at his finger joint and tapped it to demonstrate.  The creature shifted slightly, changing shape and he could feel it move underneath him, slightly lowering the ‘swing’.</p><p>The tentacle enveloped his outstretched hand and slowly started to spread, covering his dirty skin up to his wrist. It looked and felt like wearing a soft black glove. When he realized that he could still move his fingers he immediately did so to demonstrate the move the creature wanted to learn. There was a slight squirming pressure against his palm and David let out a loud cry of laughter that he silenced immediately.</p><p>“What? –David- What Wwwwwhat?” his companion demanded curiously, stretching the recording of his voice like a whiny child.</p><p>“Oh, nothing I’m just ticklish” he said, quite surprised himself. He hadn’t laughed even once ever since that faithful night when he packed his things and ran away from the farm.  It was a good feeling; David was naturally very emotional individual that laughed and cried easily. The sudden ticklish feeling made him feel more like a person, more like he used to be.</p><p>“Bad?”</p><p>“No, good, good. It doesn’t hurt,” David said and with a sudden rush of immaturity, demanded “Again!”</p><p>His companion let out an excited humming sound that reminded David so much of purring cats, and slithered towards his other hand, enveloping it in the soft blackness. When it started to squirm against the sensitive skin of his wrist, the boy couldn’t help but grin manically.</p><p>“Oh my God, that really tickles,” he said and then finally allowed himself to let go, laughing long and hard until there were tears in his eyes. He nearly fell off from the makeshift swing if not for the tentacle that grabbed his leg and tugged upwards. Losing his footing, David fell and swung in the air and was left hanging upside down like a bat. Once the sudden rush of danger left his system, the boy started to laugh again and the creature joined him with its loud purring noise that made the walls of the basement shake. When he looked upwards he realized that the tentacle holding his leg shifted into a perfect black replica of his own hand. He stared at it in wonder.</p><p>“Well done!” David complimented and was gently lifted up into safety.</p><p>                        *                                   *                                     *</p><p> “Hey! It’s my turn now!” the boy protested as his companion grasped the bowl before he could reach down to take it.</p><p>“You snooze you lose,” his own words were returned back to him and David glared at the joke.</p><p>“Hilarious. Still it’s my turn.”</p><p>He reached forward to take the bowl but the creature already stretched and with a sharp flick threw the plastic at the wall. It hit the target and clattered to the floor. The boy rolled his eyes at the show-off attitude and mentally added one point to their endless game of target practice.</p><p>When the lone tentacle handed him one of the scraped bowls, David took it back with a yank. He made a show of concentrating very hard, closing one eye to squint at the uneven circle on the wall that he carved with the edge of one of the sturdier cups.</p><p>It was a very simple game that proved to be surprisingly addictive. So far David was losing very badly, his aim usually accurate but not as reliable.</p><p>There was a tugging sensation by his foot and when David glanced down he saw a black hand playfully tingling the bare sole. He squirmed away with a grin and swatted the hand away.</p><p>“That’s cheating, you know.”</p><p>The boy took a deep breath and threw the small cup at the wall. His aim was good but he didn’t put enough power in the throw; as a result he hit the lower part of the circle and successfully robbed himself of a point.</p><p>“Shit!”</p><p>He huffed in frustration and lay down on the cold floor with a grimace. This game was getting real boring real quick but it’s not like he had anything else to do.</p><p>“David! DaaaaAAAviiiD…” the sound echoed in the cold room and the boy rolled on the floor with a moody look on his face.  He just wanted to be alone, somewhere outside where he could stretch his legs. Like a forest or a meadow or a field…</p><p>Without warning he was snatched by his waist and lifted in the air. It took only a few seconds for him to be positioned in the darkest corner of the room and covered by multiple tentacles obscuring his view of the door. Ah, it was visit time…</p><p>“Down!” David shouted, forcefully moving himself between the appendages blocking his way. “Down!”</p><p>“David- wrong- bad!” his own voice insisted and it sounded like a demented recording. He pushed harder and managed to find a place to squeeze through.</p><p>“Down!”</p><p>The door opened as the boy finally managed to free himself, still surrounded by looming blackness like a tide about to fall. George walked in and immediately aimed his weapon on him. David hated that gun. Its existence was the only thing that was keeping him trapped inside this cold box; if George was unarmed the boy would have tried his luck a long time ago despite their obvious size difference.</p><p>When he saw tentacles moving from the corner of his eye, he angrily sidestepped his slithering companion and walked around the room with his eyes pinned on George.</p><p>“Stay where ya are, kid!”  the man threatened. David barred his teeth and he could hear a woman’s gasp from the darkness of the hall.</p><p>“Let me out!” he demanded but stayed where he was.  George was looking at him with something akin to disgust and this angered the boy even further- he was the one who made him into a filthy animal!</p><p> There was a sudden but gentle pressure against his chest and David staggered backwards towards the opened petals of his companion. There was no struggle this time; he simply let himself be protected by the slithering black mass and turned his head away from the two visitors. Apparently taking this as a sign of obedience, George stepped aside to let his wife step towards the empty cups. She took the filthy one as per usual and filled the rest with water from the bottle.  David watched them both the whole time, hoping that there would be a mistake, a stumble that he could use to attack. But George was aiming his gun at him the whole time, apparently knowing where the true threat lied.</p><p>The process was short and efficient and before he could talk himself into action, the door was already closing and he was still trapped on the other side. Once the visitors left, the creature let go and David angrily marched towards the barrier keeping him from the rest of the house- the rest of the world- and kicked it hard.</p><p>It was only hours after when something occurred to him. During the entire visit, both George and his wife actively avoided looking at his face.</p><p>David hesitantly lifted his hands and touched the corners of his jaw, nose, the very tips of his eyebrows. It felt dirty but not much different.</p><p>He buried his face in his hands as something akin to dread settled in his stomach.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the small things at first. His nails were the first indicator.</p><p>The nail of his right hand pinkie was slightly discolored, looking almost gray in the weak shine of the light bulb. He only noticed it because he was so bored; trimming his nails using his teeth had become one of his favorite pastimes.</p><p>It was hard to tell whether the grayness could be attributed to his now non-existent personal hygiene or the effects of the strange liquid he was sleeping in. He didn’t think much of it until the discoloration spread towards the rest of the nails and then eventually to the left hand as well. Grey turned into a dirty dark blue with flaky bits of black on the base; David never saw anything like this in his life. It could be some sort of a fungus or an infection; a result of living in these poor conditions for so long. David knew about moulds and the way they thrived in wet environments- could the same thing happen to a human body?</p><p>He didn’t know what else to do but clean his hands thoroughly; he used the fresh water from the bowls but it didn’t seem to make any difference.  After a while he stopped caring about it since it didn’t pose any type of a threat. The nails didn’t hurt, in fact he couldn’t even feel them when he dabbed at the underside flesh beneath the nail. It was only a week later that he started to feel a slight tingling that evolved into an itch that couldn’t be satisfied.  He spent the majority of that time biting at his fingers with a helpless fury while his companion cradled him in its dark depths. </p><p>His nails tasted like metal and stank of dead things. He used to bite his nails when he was a little boy and was constantly twitchy but even then there was a set line which he never crossed; the point after which he drew blood and it was painful to bite any further.  Strangely enough this line was now absent and David found himself biting the whole nail off with the dead hard skin peeling off with ease. In this manner he lost three nails in a single day while the ones on his toes started to change color. His body was changing and he didn’t know what triggered the process or whether it would result in his death.</p><p>“David sss-s-sleep now,” the creature patted his round back and made a soft gesture with its black hands. With the detailed limbs attached to the large mass, his companion looked like an unfinished clay statue, something grotesque and pitiful.</p><p>“I don’t want to sleep,” David said sulkily. Lately he was a victim of terrible headaches that he attributed to his constant inactivity; his body was now a far cry from the strong frame he possessed back on the farm. He doubted he could even do the daily walk to the bus station without fainting on the road halfway through.</p><p>“I feel sick,” he explained and when the hands stilled in confusion he corrected himself “Bad. I feel bad.”</p><p>The limbs immediately stretched forward, elongated and unnatural as they gently tugged at his hair. Black fingers ran through the greasy strands and then down his tattered shirt to stroke his spine.</p><p>“What if I’m here for years? What if…I’m just stuck here until I die?”</p><p>It was such an unthinkable notion; surely it couldn’t happen. He would rather face off the gun and the man behind it than waste away in this rotten basement till the end of his days. There was absolutely no way.</p><p>The black hands now lost their human shape, clinging to the body under his t-shirt like a wet suit. He could feel their soft squirming on the sensitive skin of his belly, slowly moving upwards to cover the expanse of his whole torso. Next to him a large shape started to rise from the black waters of his companion and when David focused on its form he recognized it as his own body. At least the upper part of it.</p><p>Like the trick with the hands, the creature was able to imitate the shape of anything it engulfed and recreate it instantly. David only started to notice the errors when it moved above his collar bone and attached a misshapen thing in the shape of a head. His poor clone had no neck and no decipherable features and seemed mismatched somehow, the head barely balanced on top of the shoulders.</p><p>As David watched, the features started to set in and perhaps made the whole image even worse; one large eye, the other significantly lower, like a drawing made by a small child. The nose was too flat and short, appearing almost like a snout and the mouth was in contrast ridiculously large with wide jaw hanging low. The overall effect was repulsive and David flinched back in fear, something instinctual keeping him away from signs of deformity in human shaped objects.</p><p>The creature flinched back, copying his movement. It was only then that David noticed the thing’s hands that were clumsily attached to his forearms. His black clone looked positively terrifying.</p><p>“Oh, God don’t do that!” David cried out immediately, shaken out of his melancholic trance. “Bad! Wrong!”</p><p>There was a shrill displeased noise and then the figure dissolved into black mud, falling like thawed ice. The boy breathed out a sigh of relief at having his order obeyed so absolutely; he was half afraid that his companion would choose that moment to be stubborn.</p><p>Once the gargoyle was gone, David relaxed and when tentacles enveloped his shoulders, he leaned into them gratefully. The sharp fright had passed.</p><p>          *                                                 *                                               *</p><p>The second sign was somehow more alarming than the first. Two weeks after his unpleasant discovery of the strange nail fungus, all his fingers and toes were completely bare. The nails have long fallen out and he couldn’t see any new ones growing. David attributed it to not having enough of a balanced diet; perhaps nails needed some kind of a vitamin to grow, a vitamin that he had no access to in this hellhole.</p><p>This didn’t worry him very much. However when he decided to take a piss before settling in for sleep, the color of the stream made him tense in fear and the feeling of wrongness came back tenfold.</p><p>Black.</p><p>The urine was black, almost dark blue in the light of the lamp and David immediately stopped with a sick lurch in his stomach. After a moment of confusion he walked over to one of the empty pots and peed inside.  Once he was done, the boy leaned closer to inspect the strangely colored liquid more closely.</p><p>This was bad. He didn’t know what it meant but having his urine suddenly turning dark was definitely a sign of some sickness. It had to be tied to the nails; there was something going on with his body and it was spreading.</p><p>At the next visit, David shouted his head off, demanding answers.</p><p>“WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME??!” the boy screamed, black hands now restraining him like a straight jacket, keeping him a safe distance away from the old couple. George was glaring at him with burning eyes and the grip on the gun suggested that he was seconds away from shooting him on the spot. The nameless woman seemed frightened and didn’t look his way even once.</p><p>“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!”</p><p>He felt crazy, out of control, as if the moment he was let loose by his companion he would throw himself at the pair and tear them apart with his bare hands. His face was dirty, sweat flying everywhere as he continued to shout and throw himself against the black barrier, over and over again without logic or reason or thought.</p><p>“I’M SICK! I’M SICK!”</p><p>He took a chance and when the barrier parted enough for him to squeeze his upper body through, David spit in the direction of the door, successfully hitting the wife. She was bending over one of the empty bowls and when the fluid hit her skin she shrieked and stepped back, spilling the bottle on the floor.</p><p>“I’M SICK AND NOW YOU HAVE IT!” David shouted with cruel glee and squeezed through to spit even more but the pair was already retreating back inside the hall. The woman was rubbing her naked neck with frightened eyes and it was clear to him that she thought it was contagious.</p><p>“FUCK YOU!” he cried, his parting words falling to deaf ears as the door closed again and he was let loose from his black bondage.  As if this seal was the spell that kept him on his feet, David suddenly collapsed in an exhausted heap on the floor and burst into tears.  He was confused, frustrated, full of rage and a terrible raw fear that wrapped around his neck like a noose.</p><p>“Please help me…please help,” he begged quietly and the creature wrapped itself around him like a blanket, warmer than usual.</p><p>“What do you want- David? What do you want? Daaaviiiiid-d-d…”</p><p>“I want to go outside. Get me out of here…!”</p><p>But as usual the creature didn’t understand his need to escape their stone prison and David wondered whether this room was all it has ever known.</p><p>                   *                                      *                                    *</p><p>Days turned into weeks and weeks into a month.  The boy started to forget the faces of his family, the names of his classmates, the feel of sun on his cheeks and wind in his hair. There was no more smell of hay, stink of animals or his mother’s baked potatoes- only the familiar metallic odor that covered the whole room and the iciness of stone.</p><p>His habits changed and so did his bodily functions. His body started to look healthier, making a complete turnover as the boy gained back his normal weight from his days at the farm.  He ate the same amount after every visit and yet only excreted once a week; his digestive system was completely off track and made no sense. His appetite also started to disappear; he now ate only out of boredom and not necessity.  Almost all the liquid his body excluded was now dark and grayish including spit, piss, tears and on occasion even sweat. This painted his dirty skin an even more unhealthy color; the grime piling upon grime as the dirt started to mix with the creature’s liquid.</p><p>The boy was more of an animal than a man now.  Clothes were discarded, torn into stripes and tossed like rags in the corner; he only used them for playing now. He was no longer cold, only pleasantly cool and the icy stone floor posed no problem.  Modesty was long gone along with shame, and David had no trouble with walking around naked in front of his companion or the pair of his captors. They never looked at him these days anyway; David was under the impression that he disgusted or perhaps even scared them. There were no more spit incidents and the wife seemed unaffected. Whatever sickness it was, David was the only victim.</p><p>Life went on and despite not feeling the change in the temperature the boy assumed that it must be nearing Christmas. He thought of his family, of helping his mother cook the Christmas dinner and the way the meat had to be just right. His siblings underneath the Christmas tree and his father walking through the door like a stranger, somebody David only saw in the house during the weekends and only ever in the presence of his mother.</p><p>Jonathan Moore was a handsome man that used to be the gem of the town- a fact his mother never let anyone forget. A lot of the time David got the feeling that she married him as some sort of a trophy or a toy that she put on her shelf and shined from time to time.  They never acted like themselves whenever his father came home and instead fell into this strange fake routine of a perfect family. Even Timmy and Sonia, as little as they were, understood it and never cried in the presence of their father.</p><p>This fakeness was especially obvious during their Christmas celebrations. The way everyone was just so happy with their presents, so polite, so utterly careful with their words… David remembered it well but it was as if that life belonged to some other boy, the one who ran away and managed to make it to the big city. As if creating an alternate universe, this version of the boy was broken down until he became a clean slate that was filled with things that seemed inhuman and grotesque.</p><p>There was a very obvious gap between the person he was three months ago and the thing that was wearing his body now.  Rationally the boy understood this, but he no longer saw the point in bringing back the little habits and routine that the David of the past favored.  Why did it matter that he was dirty? Who cared if he was walking around naked? Drooling, crying, pissing- none of that really made him feel any different and that forbidden line which framed the sea of shame was now absent and he was free of any embarrassment. Politeness and society suddenly seemed far away and something that didn’t concern him; the creature was the only thing keeping him company and it knew nothing about etiquette or appropriate behavior. It was smart but completely uncultured and David found it almost…freeing to not be judged by anyone. It was as if he was creating his own society in the basement with only two individuals in it, one of which wasn’t even human.</p><p>But his companion was steadily getting better and better at acting like a real person and its thirst for human culture was steadily rising. It was fascinating to watch. The best example of it was when the creature demanded to be named.</p><p>“David?”</p><p>The boy lazily turned his head, currently occupied with drawing on the stone wall with the edge of one of the more colorful bowls. He saw a human shaped darkness from the corner of his eye and turned to face his companion fully.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Let’s play. Play talk.”</p><p>“I don’t wanna play talk…” David responded immediately, bored by the ordinary game but when he turned to face his drawing on the wall, a slick appendage wrapped itself around his waist.</p><p>“Let’s play talk, David. Play! Talkkkkk!”</p><p>“Ok, ok I’m going so let me down!” the boy gave in with a bored sigh and swatted the tentacle away. He stood up and when his gaze fell on his companion, the large black shape transformed back into a human silhouette. It was already swaying and vibrating with excitement and the obvious happiness made David smile.</p><p>“I don’t get why you like this so much” he shook his head, walking closer until he was standing face to face with the black figure grounded to the floor. It was less detailed and realistic than the creature’s first attempt and its face showed no distinguishable features. Yet it was beyond obvious that it was an attempt to copy David’s own physique. They were the same height, their body shape more or less identical and both lacked any proper clothing.</p><p>When David bowed to his companion, the black twin repeated the gesture, leaning down with an almost unnatural elasticity.</p><p>Really. This was such a silly game.</p><p>“Hello, sir. I haven’t seen you here before.”</p><p>There was a brief pause and then his companion replied “Hello to you too. I haven’t seen you here before- too.”</p><p>David’s lips twitched at the clumsy response but he kept his serious expression, pretending he was one of those sophisticated rich men from TV.</p><p>“Allow me to introduce myself” he took a few steps to the side, brushing the invisible dust from his imaginary suit. He was in fact completely naked. “My name is David Moore. Pleasure to meet you.”</p><p>He lifted his hand in an invitation for a handshake and after a short hesitance, the black figure in front of him woodenly grabbed at it, entwining their fingers. David noted with pleasure that this time his companion used the right hand to complete the gesture; it took some time to explain the concept during their last play.</p><p>They shook hands for longer than was socially acceptable and when David tugged his hand back, the creature let go and copied his stance as he stepped from one foot to the other. It was kind of like standing in front of a mirror.</p><p>“Nice to meet you. My name is David Moore- too.”</p><p>The boy grimaced. This was the issue with his companion that they couldn’t get past.</p><p>“You’re not David Moore. I am. My name is David Moore” he gestured at his chest and then lifted his hands at the creature “What’s your name?”</p><p>The black figure stood frozen for a while and then lifted one hand, offering another limp handshake “My name is David Moore. Pleasure to meet you.”</p><p>The boy sighed in frustration.</p><p>“No. Wrong.”</p><p>“Wrong?” the creature echoed and its black body rippled in confusion.</p><p>“I’m David. Who are you?”</p><p>There was another moment of silence before his twin started to sway unsteadily, as if the gravity started to pull at its gangly arms.</p><p>“I don’t know.”</p><p>This wasn’t anything new. They went through this before, times and times again and the creature claimed not to know its own identity or origins. It was quite possible that it had a name but was impossible to convey the information to his human ears; as far as David knew, his companion could belong to species which didn’t use sounds to communicate. Maybe they were telepathic or maybe there was no such thing as an individual in their society.</p><p>The other explanation was that his companion was very young and inexperienced; perhaps in alien years it was still a baby which would certainly explain its spoiled demands for a game every few hours. David liked this theory better; he was very good with kids and always took care of his baby siblings back at the farm.</p><p>“David- name?” the creature asked quietly.</p><p>“Maybe I should give you a name” the boy mumbled, deep in thoughts as he looked around the room for inspiration. He saw the creature lose its shape for a moment; melting on the floor like a wax figure standing next to a fireplace. When his eyes fell down on the dog bowl by his feet, David picked it up with a thoughtful hum.</p><p>The letters spelled out ‘LAIKA’ with crooked handwritten letters. It was an unusual foreign sounding name for a dog and David remembered finding it familiar when he first saw it. Laika. Perhaps it once belonged to a dog he knew?</p><p>Either way it was fitting for his companion who had many characteristics of a house pet. Laika. Like-ah? It sounded female but because the creature so often took form of his own boyish body, David started to associate it with a male gender.</p><p>“My name is David. Your name is Laika.”</p><p>“Laika?” his companion repeated and moved closer.</p><p>“Yes. Laika Moore. That’s your name.”</p><p>Laika’s figure rippled excitedly and started to repeat the name until it became one never ending loops of letters. The boy gestured at himself.</p><p>“David” his companion stated correctly. He lifted his hand to point at the black figure of the creature.</p><p>“Laika.”</p><p>“Well done” David said with an approving voice and for the first time since his imprisonment felt the hot surge of pride. Is this how teachers felt when something finally clicked in their student’s head?</p><p>“Well, Mr. Laika shall we continue our conversation? The weather seems very pleasant today…”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>David didn’t know when exactly it happened but one day he stopped thinking about Laika as a creature, and instead started to see him as a human being. A friend.</p><p>This was a result of multiple factors; firstly, Laika almost always took on a human form and when he needed to move things he used black strands that were seemingly separate from himself. As a result, Laika got better at looking and moving more like a human. His proportions were realistic, limbs bending at the right angles and he even started to pick up gestures during their conversations that looked natural and effortless once he understood their use. Furthermore his imitation of David was now in its most sophisticated form. Gone were the terrible mismatched eyes and grotesque mouth; Laika was now a master of masks and his face was the exact replica of David’s, black and lacking a pupil; it was very much like meeting your naked twin, rising from the lake of black oil.</p><p>The second change was the language. David and Laika spent endless hours in a conversation and the more they talked, the faster his companion learned. Laika could now name every object in the room in its singular and plural form, including David’s anatomy, be able to keep a fifteen minute conversation about weather, food and sleep; he understood the dynamics behind competition and the point system, and could sing eight different songs of which two were Laika’s own creation. Funnily enough, both of his friend’s songs were about cats.</p><p>The third factor was the isolation. With no other people around it was easy to forget how real humans behaved. Laika had trouble understanding the concept of a world outside the basement room and David started to question it too. Oh, on a logical level he understood it alright but with the shine of the light bulb being his only source of light, David had trouble explaining the concept of sun, nature and towns to his constant companion.</p><p>“It’s like the light bulb” the boy pointed at the ceiling with an earnest face. Laika copied his movement with a nod.</p><p>“But it’s bigger and very far away from our planet.”</p><p>“David, what’s -planet?”</p><p>David frowned. “It’s the place where we live in. Our whole world is a planet.” He drew a clumsy circle on the stone wall near the mattress and then added a bigger orb right next to it.</p><p>“This is our planet. It’s called Earth. We live here.”</p><p>“Earth is ground” Laika stated and then leaned down with a fluid movement, touching the basement floor with black fingers.</p><p>“Yes, it’s the same word” the boy agreed and then returned to the drawing. “So this is Earth and this is the Sun. And the Sun shines on Earth, giving it light and making it all nice and warm.”</p><p>“Sun is good.”</p><p>“Yes. Without the sun we would die.”</p><p>He wondered about that statement for a moment. He didn’t know if Laika needed sun to survive; it wasn’t human or like any creature on Earth.</p><p>“David, what is die?”</p><p>David sighed. Each time he answered a single question, two more sprang in its wake; a never-ending task of trying to cut hydra’s head off that left him feeling exhausted.</p><p>“To die. Death. It’s when…” he struggled with the definition “…it’s when somebody goes to sleep and never wakes up. Ever.”</p><p>Laika stood very still and David assumed he had problems understanding the concept.</p><p>“They disappear from the world. Their body goes sick and bad and they never wake up again.”</p><p>Laika spiked up, his form falling apart for a moment and then two thick appendages wrapped themselves around David’s waist and he was whisked into the air. It only took a few seconds for him to be carried to his dark companion.</p><p>Laika’s face and posture looked as calm as ever and painted a stark contrast against the violent rippling of the black mass. His friend’s emotions never showed on his face; beyond a smile and a frown, Laika had no other expressions to convey his emotions. You had to look at other signs to find the answer.</p><p>“H-hey, Laika. Are you ok?”</p><p>The tentacles lifted him up, like a mother holding her child and then brought him down again, enveloping his whole body. The black figure melted and joined the quivering barrier surrounding the naked boy.</p><p>“David-you die? Death?”</p><p>“Um, I will die if I get hurt real bad yes but-“ the sudden shift in the black mess left him disoriented and he was off his feet “- but I’m not hurt now. I’m fine. And you’re fine too.”</p><p>“David-you not disappear. Never disappear.”</p><p>It was like talking to an affectionate child and David’s heart warmed at the thought of being missed by somebody. He must have underestimated how attached Laika became. Did his friend even know anybody from the time before David was thrust into its basement room?</p><p>The boy smiled tightly and returned the grabby embrace with both of his hands.</p><p>“Don’t worry. I won’t disappear. It’s ok. I’m young, I won’t die.”</p><p>Laika let out a soft mechanic sound that David recognized as the strange language his friend sometimes used. The sound intensified and he was nearly toppled over by the sudden weight of his companion as it continued to touch him with its gentle black strands. The boy found it hard not to be moved by his friend’s panic and stroked the shadow with an affectionate chuckle.</p><p>“What’s gotten into you? You’re so silly.”</p><p>He supposed Laika must have gotten scared by the prospect; David knew that death was a very difficult concept to grasp for children. He continued to hold onto his friend, saying reassuring phrases that were full of nonsense and promises that meant nothing.</p><p>                 *                                         *                                           *                                                     </p><p>“Old McDonald had a farm ee I ee I oh!”</p><p>The rush of the swing left him breathless for a moment, and his hand slipped. But Laika caught him immediately and they were spinning again, skipping around the room in a circle. When David laughed, his friend immediately laughed back, like an echo.</p><p>“And on that farm he had some cows. Ee I ee I oh!”</p><p>The circles grew dizzying but David still held on, the room spinning around them as they continued to dance. Laika had a really strong grip and was considerably faster, which cause David to be swept along like a puppet; he was already out of breath since his body wasn’t used to that much movement.</p><p>“With a moo moo here and a moo moo there, here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo!”</p><p>Laika repeated the moo sounds a few times, finding them amusing as usual. David let go of the hands, blood pumping madly in his veins as he collapsed on the floor.</p><p>“It’s too fast! Give me a break!” he begged and the laughed with amusement when Laika made a dissatisfied noise, following suit and collapsing on top of him. His shadow clone weighted barely anything as he lay sprawled over his wheezing friend.</p><p>“What sound does a cow make?” he asked, wanting to keep his companion occupied.</p><p>“Moo!”</p><p>“And a horse?”</p><p>“Neigh!”</p><p>“How about a cat?”</p><p>“Woof!”</p><p>David burst out laughing, finding the blunder unbelievably funny for some reason. There was such simple and familiar humor in Laika that he often witnessed in his younger siblings. Being clumsy, crude or teasing would get a laugh out of his friend. He knew that Laika didn’t really laugh the way he did but he knew that the surface of his strands would do this soft twitchy thing that was equivalent to a laugh. Laika often did it when David himself laughed, as if the sound was somehow funny just on its own. Sometimes he almost purred. </p><p>The twitch was there now, on the surface of Laika’s shoulders and head as he copied David and laughed along.</p><p>“That’s what dogs do!” the boy argued but his friend only sprawled himself wider as a response. “But you knew that, didn’t you? You were just trying to trick me.”</p><p>More silence.</p><p>“Alright, what does a dog do?”</p><p>“Meow!”</p><p>“Oi! That’s not right at all!”</p><p>“Meow!”</p><p>“Now you’re just being cheeky.”</p><p>“Meo-o-o-o-o-oooow!” the word was artificially dragged on, sounding electronic and Laika rolled himself over and buried his face in David’s stomach.  The boy lifted his hand and began petting the black head.</p><p>“Are you a cat now? Is that it?”</p><p>He explained the concept of a cat to Laika before and his friend seemed to latch onto it, finding the behavior of the animal amusing. He especially liked the act of petting which David could understand because Laika enjoyed being stroked ever since their first contact. After the explanation, Laika tried to change his shape into the one of a cat but with David’s terrible drawing skills and limited shared vocabulary could not make himself into anything resembling a feline. All the tries resulted in a vaguely pony sized and shaped creatures that looked rather monstrous and eventually they stopped trying. David managed to save the situation by stating that sometimes there are cats that look like humans. It was a very bad lie but Laika didn’t know any better and bought it hook, line, and sinker. Bless him.</p><p>“Here, kitty, kitty…”</p><p>“Meow!”</p><p>When David glanced down to lightly stroke Laika’s chin, something dark red caught his eye as it dripped down his own chest. He swiped it, fingers soaked red as he brought the strange liquid closer for inspection.</p><p>Oh. A nosebleed.</p><p>Laika shifted around in his lap until he faced him with large unblinking eyes.</p><p>“Ah, don’t worry about it, nothing’s wrong it’s just…blood…” David babbled quietly, holding his nose with his head thrown back in an attempt to stop the flow. His face felt hot and wet.</p><p>But his friend didn’t look worried in the least, instead only watching the scene calmly with unconcerned body language. The blood on David’s hands was strangely dark, almost black as it glinted on his pale grey skin. When it dripped down onto Laika’s face it managed to land right on his twin’s left eye. David’s own eyes squinted in sympathy but Laika didn’t blink even once, barely noticing that there was something in his eye. David expected him to blink it away but soon realized that the behavior he expected was very mammal-like in nature. He didn’t even know if Laika was a mammal; although his friend never felt cold, he never felt warm either and David no longer trusted his ability to gauge temperature.</p><p>Perhaps Laika had more than one sets of lids and that’s why it didn’t bother him. But then again, his friend could tell where everything was even without having any eyes; the more David thought about it, the more clear it became that his companion didn’t need eyes to ‘see’ the same way humans did. Like the human body and face, they were just for show.</p><p>The droplet of blood continued to drip down his friend’s eye in a parody of a tear and it sent shivers up and down David’s spine as he watched it descent. It was one of those occasional moments during which the boy found his alien companion absolutely repulsive; it usually happened when Laika did something that he viewed as instinctively abnormal, like when he moved his limb at an unnatural angle or made an expression that didn’t fit his words.</p><p>Something akin to a sneeze build up inside David’s body and he managed to twist his body to the side as all the blood came out rushing at once. He wheezed loudly, having trouble to breathe as more and more liquid left his body and all of it colder than he was used to, the blood almost lukewarm. The whole process only lasted a few seconds and when it was finally done and he could breathe normally again, David felt better. It felt like he was sick and just threw up something that didn’t agree with his stomach.</p><p>The blood on the floor was an uneven mixture of black and red; when David reached to touch it, Laika moved with him and before he knew what was happening, the black tendrils were sucking the liquid up until nothing but a faint smear of black was left.</p><p>The boy leaned back, still clutching his nose as he tried to understand what just happened.</p><p>“That’s gross” he said in the end. Laika laughed.</p><p>              *                                             *                                          *    </p><p>Life went on. According to David’s hand drawn wall calendar, Christmas came and went along with New Years. He knew that people were supposed to set resolutions for the brand new year but it was hard to think about anything in long term while he was stuck in the basement.</p><p>It was either nostalgia or boredom but he ended up celebrating Christmas with his friend, drawing an enormous pine tree with elaborate decorations on the walls by the mattress. Laika helped by giving him the lift he needed to do the upper wall work and draw a big star at the top of the tree. He spent the rest of the day teaching Laika a revised version of Jingle Bell rock, adding in his own lyrics to parts he couldn’t remember, and other famous Christmas songs that he could recall from the radio. It was…fun. He was surprised how much he enjoyed himself, especially when his friend joined in and the two of them sang together.</p><p>He got a special turkey sandwich during one of the visits, cold like all of his meals. He ate it out of routine and it tasted the same as all the sandwiches before it; bland, metallic and wet. Food was no longer a joy but a chore that he wasn’t sure he even needed to perform anymore. If he stopped eating, would he even feel the effects? It didn’t seem likely but he was afraid that once he stopped eating, something in his digestive system would simply flip and change his whole anatomy. David learned to fear changes in his body.</p><p>Days passed, one after the other like an endless black tunnel with no light at the end. January eventually gave way to February which turned out to be the darkest month of David’s imprisonment. His restlessness transformed into lethargy and ultimately sunk into the deep mud of depression; half of the time it felt as if he wasn’t even conscious. Depression robbed him off his energy. He spent the majority of his time sleeping, sometimes even two days in a row and Laika’s attempts at shaking him from this strange state were ignored. David was aware that his companion grew frightened of this new lifeless version of his friend but he simply couldn’t muster enough energy to care. What was the point anyway? He would never leave this place, he would die trapped between these four stone walls like a farm animal.</p><p>Eventually this gave way to an even more terrifying question: could David die at all? The boy was aware that during his hazy days of depression he skipped food for longer than a week and felt absolutely no hunger. There were no left over sandwiches piling up in front of the door and David realized that his visitors must have simply stopped bringing them along.</p><p>Physical needs seemed to have left him completely and the only urge left was thirst. It forced him to open his mouth when Laika trickled metallic water on his face, washing away grime and hair stuck to his forehead. ‘What’s going to happen to me?’ David would often think. ‘Surely this would all end someday. It can’t go on any longer. It can’t.’</p><p>It was during one of these brief moments of horror that David ended up doing what he did. His fear of immortality was perhaps even greater than his fear of death. He could not bear the thought of staying in this underground prison for eternity, with no means of escape.</p><p>“What are you doing, David?” his companion asked, leaning over him eagerly with a mechanical smile. Laika seemed excited to see his friend up and about again and David didn’t have the heart to tell him what he planned. He knew that if he brought up the subject of death, Laika would get frightened again and refuse to help him.</p><p>“A new game. Want to help?”</p><p>“Yes yes yes!”</p><p>David smiled, the expression wooden as he turned back to the pile of shirt in his lap. His long makeshift rope was nearly finished and he continued to tear the long stripes of his clothes with monotonous movements. The boy didn’t feel any regret or doubt; instead he was filled with a sort of burning excitement that came from somewhere deep within his chest and clawed against his ribcage like a drowning animal.</p><p>“What are the rules?” Laika asked impatiently, his hands petting the boy’s hair and shoulders with butterfly touches of affection. David tightened the fabric and tugged hard to make sure it could carry his weight.</p><p>“It’s like the swing game but a bit different. See this? It’s called a rope” he held the rope for inspection and Laika immediately felt it up with his black greedy fingertips, his hands melting for a moment as it absorbed the object to study it.</p><p>“I will put it around my neck and-“he stopped for a moment, shocked to realize that his voice broke. Perhaps he was more afraid than he thought.</p><p>“-and…and I will swing. You will hold the rope, ok?”</p><p>“Rope” Laika repeated, familiarizing himself with the object. When David held up his hand, Laika returned the rope with a black smile.</p><p>“I have to make a special knot” he said, trying to remember the specifics of a noose. His friend Robert taught him how to do it years ago as a way to show off; they pulled a few pranks by leaving empty nooses in public bathrooms and cryptic messages on the mirror. He never once in his life thought that he would need that knowledge again.</p><p>“Knot?”</p><p>“I have to put the rope in the right position.”</p><p>It took David a good half an hour of experimenting but he managed to tie a correct noose knot and with a sort of feeling of detachment, put it around his neck. It seemed to work as it should and once he was satisfied with the length, he turned towards his friend.</p><p>“Lift me up” the boy said and was immediately carried towards the ceiling in the usual position of a swing. Gone was the black figure of his friend; Laika was now once again in his natural petal form.</p><p>It didn’t take David very long to explain the rules as his friend learned quickly at this point. The described game would go as follows: Laika would keep the rope suspended along with David before swiftly letting him hang as if he was on a swing. He found it very easy to fool his companion; Laika had only a very basic understanding of human anatomy. He had no idea this could damage David in any way.</p><p>“No matter what- you don’t let go, Laika.”</p><p>“Yes, yes hurry up!” his friend hurried him along and it was strange to hear the voice without seeing the black figure. David grew used to talking to a face.</p><p>Touching the rope around his neck, the boy’s body suddenly grew stiff and clumsy. He had to grip it several times as his hands became shaky; unreliable fingers fumbling along the torn material. For the first time since he started to plan this event David realized this was really going to happen. He was going to hang himself. Die. Blackness. Nothing.</p><p>Hell.</p><p>Suicide was a deadly sin, wasn’t it? Well, it was no matter, David didn’t believe in God anyway. He was forced to go to church and his mother used to insist on praying before bed time but it was a meaningless tradition, nothing else. There was no God because if He really did exist then that meant that David was supposed to stay trapped in this basement. It was God’s plan.</p><p>There is no God.</p><p>But after spending his whole life giving the subject very little thought, David suddenly found himself hesitating. He didn’t know anything about death, having very little experience with it. He sometimes heard about some classmate’s grandfather dying but it was never anybody close to him. The closest death to his family was an old chicken on the farm or miscarriage by one of the cows.  Never anything personal.</p><p>Doubt made his body freeze completely and it was only the soft nudge to his hip that made him aware of his surroundings once more.</p><p>“Are you ready?” Laika asked, the firm appendage curling around the boy’s waist firmly. He thought of his friend and what would happen to him once he realizes that David won’t wake up. Would he try to revive him? Perhaps think he’s asleep?</p><p>A sudden gust of guilt clouded his mind and David looked down on the stony floor, imagining his own corpse lowered down carefully. Would Laika cuddle with his body, keeping it safe inside its black mass? David found the notion comforting and this last thought gave him the final push to let his hands drop from the noose.</p><p>“Yes. Let’s count to five.”</p><p>He took a deep breath, willing the fear clutching his stomach to go away.  It was either this or going back down and surrendering to his fate. This or an eternity of imprisonment.</p><p>“Five…four…” Laika started and the copied voice echoed against the stone walls of the basement room, sounding like a countdown to a sport event.</p><p>“…three…two…”</p><p>For a split second David regretted his plan but just as he was about to open his mouth to scream stop, his companion stated a cheery “ONE!” and the support under his feet was gone.</p><p>A cold rush of panic made him scream but the terrified yell stayed trapped in his throat and he was choking, a fierce pressure against his throat. He started to trash but that made the sensation that much sharper and his vision started to dim. A shift of black let him know that help was just a moment away but he could not talk or even lift his hands to his throat and his eyes were wet and face hot, noises coming out of his throat that were completely involuntary- he tried to lift his hands one last time, to lift himself up on the rope but he was so weak and everything went dark.</p><p>                    *                                     *                                       *                                                 </p><p>It seemed as if he was unconscious only for a moment. David found himself suspended in a brief flash of calmness that was sharply stabbed by a sensation of deep uneasy and sickness in his chest. This feeling shifted to his throat and activated his gag reflex with an unexpected violence. He dry heaved, mouth open wide as he tried to rid his body of the thing that blocked his throat. The substance that passed his lips was thicker than saliva, and seemingly never-ending; he gagged and gagged, throat tightening as he continued to heave painfully. When he shifted his position, he realized that it seemed to go easier and he turned over with a lowered head, throwing up on the ground.</p><p>A familiar voice that he recognized as his own was saying his name. David opened his eyes, the thick substance dripping from his mouth and he spitted it out with a whine. The floor underneath him was splattered with a squirming black liquid and he could feel Laika’s touch on his back.</p><p>“David-David-D-a-a-a-vid-vid!”</p><p>He opened his mouth to ask something ‘What is happening?’ or perhaps ‘What is that?’  But when he parted his lips, another surge of nausea took him and he gagged, almost choking on the swirling mass of black that clogged his throat.</p><p>He was alive. He somehow made it.</p><p>The boy shut his eyes, a mixture of relief and disappointment flooding his heart with strong waves. He was alive. Breathing.</p><p>“David-don’t sleep! David-stay here!”</p><p>“Laika…” he forced out in between the heaves and after a short coughing fit, David collapsed on the floor with a groan. The back of his neck and shoulder blades felt wet and vulnerable. For the first time he noticed the state of the room; cups were thrown around carelessly and there were deep cracks in the walls, as if they were smashed by something heavy. The large Christmas tree drawing was now almost indistinguishable in the smashed stone.</p><p> David turned his head weakly. He could see the liquid that he threw up move in front of his eyes, raise itself from the ground and travel back to its dark master who was leaning over David with concerned metallic shrills.</p><p>“DAVID-IDIDIDID-!”</p><p>A terrible shrieking noise filled his ears and David cried out in pain, mind completely blank in agony. As quickly as it came, the sound was gone and the boy rolled over with tired movements. Strong dark hands lifted him up in the air and embraced him.</p><p>“What did you do…” he asked weakly. There was something wrong with his neck- it felt too full and sticky- and David made an attempt to raise his hands to check for himself but couldn’t make it all the way. Exhaustion clawed at his body, increasing the force of gravity on his limbs as they hanged limply in the black embrace.</p><p>“David- you tricked me. You played a game but you knew it was dangerous. You tricked- why did you trick? Why be hurt, David?”</p><p>So Laika found out. David always knew that his friend was smart, perhaps even smarter than he let on. He seemed concerned about David; concerned and angry.</p><p>“WHY DO THAT, DAVID-WHY SLEEP FOREVER-WHY DIE-WHY, DAVID??!”</p><p>There was a terrible crash and David’s whole body vibrated with the force of the impact the black tentacles dealt to the stone walls. The ceiling shook above them and Laika continued to talk, his voice descending into the familiar metallic screech that pierced the boy’s ears.</p><p>“YOU WILL NOT DIE!”</p><p>The world shook and it felt as if he was caught in a terrible storm; a tempest brought on by the wrath of an angry god. He curled into a protective ball as the cold blackness leashed out around him, cold forceful muscles brushing against the boy’s skin. It took him a long moment to open his eyes again and glimpse the state of the room.</p><p>The walls were cracked, dust dancing in the air as David blinked to get it out of his eyes. Laika seemed to have calmed down now, standing in his human form like a lifeless shop figurine by the mattress. As David watched him, he seemed to melt very slowly, first his shoulders dropping down and then the details of his face; first his nose, then his hair and jaw. The black liquid trickled down and then raised itself up again, as if it took Laika a great deal of effort to keep up the form. The image his companion presented was very disturbing and yet at the same time David found his heart breaking at the sight. Apologies spilled from his mouth; voice weak and hoarse as it echoed in the damaged room.</p><p>“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”</p><p>He never tried to take his life again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Life went on and as the days passed, David started to feel strangely calm and content. It was a curious experience, as if in the current state he could not be touched by anything or anyone. He imagined this is what it was like for the monks in the mountains or the drugged patients prepped for surgery; a state of complete calmness.</p><p>George and his wife arrived the day after the incident as usual, fulfilling their duties without a comment. Their eyes were drawn to the cracked walls and chunks of stone littering the basement floor but they didn’t ask what happened or whether David was responsible for any of it. They stopped talking to him a long time ago and the boy rarely acknowledged their presence nowadays, instead preferring to sleep the visits away in the corner of the room within his companion’s darkness.</p><p>For a while the cracks gave him hope. He spent hours trying to dig in between the chinks of stone, to see if there was anything on the other side, any sign of a real sun or fresh air. But the walls were cracked and he became aware that the structure was extremely fragile. If he wasn’t careful, the whole place could fall down on both of them and David couldn’t think of a worse death than being buried in this hopeless place. He started to doubt whether there was anything on the other side of those walls at all.</p><p>He didn’t know what date it was and even the unreliable handmade calendar could not give him any answers; he slept too many days away and had no idea how much time he spent unconscious after his pathetic attempt at suicide. It was futile to even try. The only thing he could guess at was the month and David decided that it was March. He must have slept through his birthday.</p><p>One year older…it didn’t seem to matter anymore. Some days he had trouble even remembering his actual age.</p><p>The following weeks after the incident, Laika was clingier than usual and moved everywhere with him, effectively becoming David’s own personal shadow. In some instances it was hard to distinguish where his body began and Laika’s ended. His friend flitted around him like an overgrown moth and David stroked him as Laika sat by his side and talked for hours on end about topics they revisited over and over again. His companion seemed to be focused on the aspect of emotions and what it meant to be ‘angry’, ‘jealous’, ‘peaceful’ and most importantly ‘in love’.</p><p>“I’m-in love-with you” Laika would often say, overjoyed at finding the right words to describe their relationship. It felt so empty to hear it said in his own voice. Sometimes David wondered whether Laika was even real or just a fantasy; a strange imaginary friend that he was forced to create in order to deal with the loneliness of the basement.</p><p>“I love you” David corrected with a soft voice but Laika just took it as a response and chirped happily in his strange metallic language. The boy sighed and leaned into his friend’s touch, black strands massaging his scalp with gentle caress. His bangs were too long now and hair thinning, almost half of it completely gone by this point and spread on the dirty stone floor. David couldn’t find it in himself to care about this recent development; after the nails it wasn’t that surprising and who in here would even care that he was balding? Laika probably didn’t even understand the concept.</p><p>Why was it happening? When will it stop? He was done asking those questions. He didn’t have the answers and it didn’t seem like he would ever get them, stuck in this stone prison separating him from the rest of the world. When he ran his hand through his hair and tangled strands came undone like a fur of a shedding animal, David didn’t panic. He simply accepted it and everything else that was happening as part of his fate. God’s plan. Out of his control.</p><p>In this fashion he lost all of his hair everywhere on his body, including eyelashes and eyebrows that he kept finding dropped on his naked skin like blond snowflakes. He couldn’t even imagine how he looked at this point but for the first time since he shed his clothes, David felt utterly naked and vulnerable. His companion’s mirror image of him was suddenly flawed; where Laika’s form still had hair and eyebrows, David was now bare as a newborn baby. He was reminded of his body’s changes every day because of this fact but in contrast, it seemed as if Laika hadn’t even noticed. He never commented on it and the only indication that he noticed was the lazy way he played with the fallen hair on the floor, wrapping it around his finger over and over again.</p><p>David spent a lot of time wondering about his appearance, about what his captors saw when they opened the basement door. His body now seemed to match his state of mind; he had turned into a being that was not quite human and not quite a beast. A ghoul that haunted the underground prison and eventually became one with it. Was that what really happened? Has he given up? Accepted his fate?</p><p>These questions swam in his mind until he wasn’t sure whether they were even worth answering. But their relevance suddenly revealed itself sometime in March when the everyday routine turned on its head and left David in complete disarray. It was the day he woke up and realized that the cold basement room now included a third occupant that he hasn’t seen before.</p><p>It wasn’t obvious at first. He slept inside Laika, in his usual, claustrophobic position of a curled ball with the shallow water soothing his hairless skin. He twisted slightly, which would usually be enough to signal to his companion that he was up and awake. As he waited for the black barrier to part and his friend to greet him, the seconds stretched on into a full minute and the boy realized that something was wrong. Laika could always instinctually tell when he woke up, monitor his body for any signs of waking. This was obviously some sort of a prank and David was in no mood to joke around or play any of Laika’s childish games.</p><p>He sharply reached out into the darkness, grabbing at the slick substance shielding his sleeping space and tried to make a path for himself with his fingers. The barrier parted for him, almost unwillingly and David crawled forward, moving blindly through the blackness until he could glimpse the shine from the light bulb and the cold air of the basement.</p><p>Once he blinked, to get the liquid out of his eyes, even with the faulty vision David could immediately tell that there was something different about the room. He tried to focus on the unfamiliar shape on the top of the mattress, rubbing his sleepy eyes as Laika moved around him to change into its enormous petal form.</p><p>“What is it?” he asked, feeling rather than seeing his friend’s tension that rippled through his whole body like a wave.</p><p>“Is that…” he trailed off, sight focusing the longer he stared and it was only now that David realized what the dark shape on the bed was. A person. Another person in the room with him.</p><p>It took a long moment for him to process this information. He hadn’t seen anyone like this- so close, so unmovable for what seemed like eternity. As he crept closer a sudden terrifying thought froze him in place. What if the person was dead? Just a body that was tossed into the basement room like garbage or perhaps even…food.</p><p>David shivered at the thought and crawled closer, not quite daring to get up on his feet completely. Like a cautious animal he moved with sharp slowness that brought him closer and closer towards the unmoving body lying on the dirty mattress. From this angle it looked like a man with matted brown hair; David couldn’t be sure because of the large coat but it kind of looked like a skinny middle aged man. The person stank of sweat and something David recognized as alcohol; he didn’t have the opportunity to smell anything else except the strange metal stink these past couple of months and it was such a luxury to even breathe in this new familiar aroma. Alcohol. It was like a smell from a forgotten world.</p><p>David moved even closer, now leaning over the unmoving figure as he peeked at the stranger’s face. He could hear the sound of breathing and when he put his hand on the man’s back it was warm and slightly moving with each breath he took. Alive. The man was alive.</p><p>There was a sudden grip on his wrists and David was roughly dragged back to the center of the room.</p><p>“David, it’s dangerous!” Laika warned, still in his large petal form. The black woven threads around him trembled like leaves in the wind.</p><p>“Shush, let go, let go, down!” David ordered with a dismissive gesture and soon enough he was once again crawling towards the stranger, determined to feel that warmth on his fingers again. The surge of shock at seeing another human being in the room was slowly wearing off, replaced by intense curiosity and relief. Finally, finally there was a link to the outside world, a bridge between the two universes that became so separate in David’s troubled mind.</p><p>The noise must have woken the stranger up because the body on the mattress started to move, slowly rolling over with a loud groan. David swallowed thickly as he watched the man- yes it was a man because he had a beard, David could see it from this angle- gain consciousness accompanied by soft jerks of his body.</p><p>“Hello?” David whispered with a cautious voice. He could see the man’s whole face now, all stringy beard and blinking eyes covered by matted hair. The stranger looked to be about 40, perhaps older, with a tired face and red eyes.  He looked like a homeless person.</p><p>“Wha…where…” the stranger mumbled and to David he sound drugged or most likely drunk. The boy crawled closer, for some reason still on his knees as he observed the man. When he felt a soft tug on his leg he turned around and warningly slapped the black mass there, putting small force into the hit. The pressure disappeared and Laika slithered back with an almost hurt sound as David returned his attention to the disoriented stranger.</p><p>“Hello” he repeated, this time feeling more confident. The man must have heard him because he jerked his head up and their eyes met in a moment that seemed to last forever.</p><p>A sudden horrified scream filled the room.</p><p>David flinched at the sound and moved away on reflex; the stranger was screaming as if he saw a ghost and he wouldn’t stop, his raspy loud voice piercing David’s ears like blades. The man’s eyes were wide, red and huge as he continued to stare at David and then at something in the back of the room; when the boy turned his head he saw the wide petals of Laika’s body, stretched and trembling at the screaming noise.</p><p>“No, it’s ok, you don’t have to-!”</p><p>But David’s voice was lost in the sudden increase of the scream’s volume as the nameless man turned his attention back on the boy and scrambled against the wall. It soon became clear that he was not only frightened by Laika’s dark appearance but also by David. He was scared of David.</p><p>The boy looked down at himself, crouched on the basement floor in the bad lightning of the single lamp above their heads. He had no hair, just bare dirty skin and his fingers lacked nails…however he doubted that the stranger even noticed the rest of his body. He seemed to be looking straight at his face and screaming in horror. David lifted a hand to his cheeks, nose and eyes as he tried to see what could have frightened him so much…but there was nothing. It felt normal, without any blemishes or strange additions.</p><p>The man must be just frightened by Laika. David turned around and barked an order “Change!”</p><p>His friend let out a displeased sound but obeyed almost instantly, transforming into a black clone and standing next to the crouching David. However instead of resolving the situation, this seemed to frighten the stranger even further and the man turned his attention back to Laika and screamed “GET AWAY!”</p><p>“It’s ok, there’s nothing to be scared of…my name is David-“</p><p>It was in that moment that his false sense of security came crashing down.</p><p>He should have know, should have seen it coming. The man was acting like a cornered animal and fright often resulted in desperate violence. Laika next to him was a dark ghost of tension, walking the fine line between action and obedience and David could see how quietly still, how impossibly ready he looked.</p><p>The stranger let out a frightened noise and when David moved forward with his hands lifted in a sign of peace, the man made a sharp move in his direction. David didn’t know what the stranger wanted to do, whether he intended to push him away or planned a more permanent way to get rid of the strange boy.</p><p>But he never got to finish the action.  From the corner of his eye, David spotted a flash of darkness and a wet piercing sound filled the room. The man let out a pained grunt and David saw blood drip on the mattress, a single drop fall in slow motion followed by a growl that vibrated in David’s bones. It sounded like an animal rumble that was coming from somewhere above them and when David lifted his eyes his heart stopped at the sight that greeted him.</p><p> A large blackness loomed over the grunting man, predatory and determined as it slowly descendent down on its prey. The dive must have lasted only three seconds or so but to David it felt like eternity; he could see the killer instinct present in the black strands as they neared the injured man. With a snap, like a python striking out, Laika engulfed the man completely and the pained grunts were swallowed by sudden silence.</p><p>David stayed frozen on the spot, mind blank.</p><p>The blackness in front of him throbbed and vibrated, squeezing the object inside like one would squeeze an orange. When David saw blood pool on the floor he staggered back with a gasp, but the black strands followed the little river of blood and seemed to swallow it too until all that was left was writhing darkness against stone. He couldn’t see any part of the man, any proof that there was something inside the dark depths being crushed and consumed by his friend.</p><p>His friend.</p><p>Oh God. That was Laika. Laika did this.</p><p>He felt safe around his companion, the creature seemed harmless, he was almost like a real person and only ever drank water, there was absolutely no way-!</p><p>But it was suddenly as if he opened his eyes for the first time and saw Laika for what the creature truly was- a predator. Something alien and dangerous, something that was closer to the animals in the jungle than to civilized people in cities and towns. It seemed so ridiculous to him now that he ever considered the creature to be anything resembling a human, to have called it a friend.</p><p>David backed away slowly, still unable to raise himself from the dirty ground as he shuffled backwards until his back was pressed against the stony coldness of a wall. The large shape in front of him simply continued to lie still, throbbing like a vein overflowed with blood.  David was reminded of snakes, huge pythons that could swallow a whole cow and then rest for weeks with swelled bodies as their digestive system took the meat apart. A private documentary happening right in front of his eyes. </p><p>David wasn’t even surprised that Laika could swallow a whole person; the creature could stretch itself incredibly wide, probably big enough to cover the whole basement room. The homeless man was inside it, the same way David was each night, except he wasn’t asleep he was dead. The boy saw his glassy eyes before the creature even swallowed him up; the stranger was stabbed before being…consumed. Eaten. Juiced, like an orange.</p><p>And now like a child that ate too much gingerbread on Christmas, the creature was sitting still and simply digesting. David couldn’t tear his eyes away from the dark shape; if he tried hard enough, he could almost imagine the curled figure of the dead man inside it. David slept in that exact same spot, the same position countless times and yet he was always allowed to surface back into the stuffy basement air. He wasn’t food but this man was. What made David so different?</p><p>“David?”</p><p>The boy didn’t respond.</p><p>            *                                              *                                            * </p><p>He hadn’t cried for a very long time, not since the breakdown in November, but he cried that day. When the door opened and George walked in, David was curled in the corner with face covered by snot and tears. The boy was making soft whining noises that echoed in the stony room and softly rocked back and forth in an attempt to comfort himself.</p><p>It was like being forced back to square one. He didn’t have a friend or any ally in this situation. It was his two guards and the creature against him, just like in the beginning. He should have trusted his instincts, should have stayed away. Instead he was blinded by his naïve, perhaps even an arrogant believe that he could tame the monster. Laika was a predator and killed without any hesitation.  All these months, David has been sleeping in the lion’s mouth and didn’t even realize despite the clear clues he has been given from George’s behavior, his words (“Maybe it wants to eat ya…If it doesn’t kill ya like the ones before…“).</p><p>How could he have been so blind?</p><p>As usual, George didn’t look at him and only had eyes for the creature that still rested after its kill. The wife was not present. George seemed even more nervous than usual and didn’t fill the cups, instead leaving the plastic 2 liters bottle on the floor before returning back to the hall. The boy noticed that his jailer had what looked like snow on his shoulders and hair and this made him wonder about the weather outside- oh God how he longed to walk out into the open air and feel the snow on his skin for himself…!</p><p>David opened his mouth and called out weakly, in between the sobs “Please, help me. Take me with you.”</p><p>There was a pause in the man’s movements. David could tell he was surprised; after all, David had completely ignored them for months now and they haven’t spoken since the time he spit at his wife.</p><p>The large man turned around and for the first time in what seemed like eternity, their eyes met and George looked straight at his face. David swallowed his tears as he strained his ears for any words that may come out of the man’s mouth.</p><p>“I can’t wait until ya dead, freak.”</p><p>There seemed to be an almost bitter finality in the words; a king stating a death sentence- ‘Off with his head!’</p><p>David closed his eyes, weeping once more and when he finally found the courage to face the disgust in the man’s face, his jailer was gone. The door was long since closed and locked and it was only him and the pulsating black creature in the room.</p><p>He cried for a long time, fighting sleep until he couldn’t bear it anymore and the next thing he knew, he was being woken by a gentle stroking of his bare head.</p><p>“David. David, wake up.”</p><p>The familiar voice made him open his eyes, sleepy and disorientated as he tried to place his position. His back ached and the soft touch on his temple stilled for a moment before resuming again.</p><p>“Let’s play. I have cups.”</p><p>He jumped at the words, immediately straightening up into a sitting position as the recent events flooded his mind. Above him, Laika was standing in his usual boyish form, not a hair out of place as his lips stretched into a practiced smile.</p><p>For a moment David only sat still. The first notion that occurred to him was that everything that had happened only occurred in his head; a simple nightmare or perhaps a hallucination induced by his complete lack of nourishment this past month.</p><p>When he glanced at the mattress behind his companion he saw a faint red spot in the centre and that was enough proof. The man had died. He had been swallowed by the creature. It had really happened.</p><p>Looking at Laika now, David could not see anything different about the creature. In his human shape, he looked ordinary and familiar- his body wasn’t bloated or misshapen or bigger than usual. He was hovering over David with a frown painted on his dark face.</p><p>“Do you want to sleep some more?”</p><p>David got on his feet, legs unsteady with sleep as he backed away from the creature. Laika seemed to take that as his willingness to play and moved towards the stack of plastic cups he accumulated. When he neared David again, the boy’s eyes widened in fear.</p><p>“Don’t come near me!” he warned with what he hoped was an authoritative tone. Laika stopped immediately, appearing completely still.</p><p>“Why?” he- it- asked. It was hard not to think of the creature in terms of gender that David imposed on it for such a long time.</p><p>The question was fairly simple and even expected but David didn’t have a clear answer. What could he say? That the creature was dangerous? He knew that from the very beginning and yet with each gesture, Laika let him known that he was no threat to the human boy. Laika even saved his life when he decided to throw it away. What he felt now, logic had nothing to do with it.</p><p>He knew it wasn’t rational but he found the creature so repulsive, so frightful that he could not bear to touch it, even by accident during a game. Surprisingly, his mind brought him back to that moment years ago where he experienced his intense period of horror and disgust after discovering his fear of slugs. It was as if the same mix of repulsion, fear and resentment were put in a blender, then spilt down his shirt in a frozen mess.</p><p>What he witnessed with the homeless man was something that left such a huge impression that the boy wouldn’t be able to forget it even if he tried.</p><p> “Get away!” he barked, his fear giving him power as he aggressively stepped forward. Laika stumbled back and appeared confused. This made the boy even bolder and in a moment of courage, he sharply pushed his dark twin with enough force to get him halfway across the room.</p><p>Laika twisted, his waist snapping at an unnatural angle as he righted himself with fluidness that sent shivers down the boy’s spine.</p><p>“David?”</p><p>“Don’t come near me” David leaned down and traced and invisible line in the air, separating the two halves of the room. He knew that Laika only understood the language of games.  “You can’t cross this line.”</p><p>Laika took a careful step forward, still in his boyish form as he lifted a hand and cautiously slipped it past the invisible boundary. David expected the creature to test the rules; it was how he operated when a new game was introduced and the boy expected Laika to regard his new orders as harmless playing. Trial and error was the usual teaching method.</p><p>Waiting for the inevitable test, David slapped the black hand away and it retreated. Laika flinched, spiking up abruptly.  Low mechanic hum built up inside the room as the creature followed the length of the line from one wall to the other. Like an agitated animal inside a cage, Laika paced back and forth and not even once crossed the unseen border.</p><p>David stepped away with a relieved sigh; it seemed like he still had control over the situation.</p><p>“How do I win, David?” Laika asked unexpectedly. The boy backed away into the corner and sat down.</p><p>“You win if you don’t cross the line. Whoever stays on their side the longest is the winner.”</p><p>The mechanical rumbling was back and David could sense Laika’s displeasure despite the fact that his twin’s face was stuck in a smile.</p><p>“David, are you angry with me?”</p><p>God, he really regretted teaching Laika about emotions and feelings. The creature was perceptive as usual, furthermore the way he kept saying David’s name made him uncomfortable.</p><p>“I love you, David.”</p><p>“STOP SAYING MY NAME!” the boy burst out angrily and was immediately taken aback by his own rage. Laika too, didn’t take the shouting well.</p><p>“David, are you angry with me?” the creature repeated and it was the same damn copy of the previous question, like a well-made recording. David found himself leaning down, curling on the stony floor with hands pressing against his ears.</p><p>“Did I do something bad?”</p><p>“Are you sick?”</p><p>“David, I don’t want to play anymore.”</p><p>“STAY WHERE YOU ARE!” David’s head snapped up as he shouted the order. He wasn’t ready to face his fears yet, wasn’t ready for the feel of those powerful tendrils on his skin. Laika froze on the spot and didn’t move an inch.</p><p>“I’m scared of you” the boy explained in a whisper after a long silence. Something in Laika’s form subtly shifted, although David wouldn’t be able to point where this movement came from.</p><p>“Scared? Afraid?” Laika repeated, obviously attempting to make sure he got the right meaning of the word.  He seemed unsure and this was reflected on the figure of his body as it slowly started to disintegrate into black tendrils. They stretched and swayed until they were lightly touching the ceiling and the creature slowly grew in size, rising like tidal waves. David could still see the remains of the human shape in their midst, slowly swallowed up by the tentacles.</p><p>“I don’t like that. Stop being scared” the creature demanded and although it expanded, the invisible line separating the room in two was not breached.  When the order was repeated, David curled back onto the floor, confident that Laika would not cheat at this particular game. The rules would be obeyed.</p><p>“Why did you kill that man?” David asked softly.</p><p>“What man?”</p><p>The boy blinked confusedly, turning his head to stare at the black abyss.</p><p>“The man that was on the mattress. You killed him!”</p><p>There was a short pause during which David, rather hysterically, wondered whether Laika even knew what it actually consumed.</p><p>“That was…water.”</p><p>“THAT WAS A MAN!” David shouted, confused and afraid. “He was the same as me! A real person!”</p><p>“You are different. The man was water but you are different” Laika repeated.</p><p>“I’m human, a person, a man! The same as him, I have water, blood inside of me!” David argued desperately. But even as he shouted the words, he wondered whether this was the truth. He couldn’t see his reflection but he was pretty sure that his current appearance looked monstrous and no substance entered or left his body. Water seemed to be the only nourishment he required, as if he transformed into an overgrown plant.  It was very much possible that the blood coursing through his veins was as black as Laika’s body. Could his appearance be described as human at this point? He didn’t feel like a person.</p><p>“You are mine” Laika stated, voice sharp and metallic. “The man was nothing. Stop being scared.”</p><p>It was at that moment that David realized he had to escape or something terrible would happen. His time was running out.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mine.</p><p>The word echoed inside the boy’s mind like a cry from top of mountain. It kept returning in the calmest of moments, when he was drifting off towards a state of cautious sleep. He kept waking up in terror, convinced that he was inside Laika’s dark womb of tendrils with the crushed corpse of the eaten man lying beside him, half-decomposed and pressed against David’s side. The image was so frightening that he would be thrust into consciousness immediately; the hardness of stone under his trembling body would eventually tell him that the creature was far away. And yet the nightmarish fear still remained, weighting him down like thick, heavy mud.</p><p>Laika, the ghost haunting the basement room, would always be there at the corner of his eye and David was constantly reminded of its presence. The creature would whine and complain, occasionally getting angry or impatient with David’s cold treatment. However the strange power balance was still present; no matter how easy it would be for Laika to disregard his orders, the creature still obeyed him absolutely and could be easily scolded by a harsh word or gesture. Laika would not cross the line.</p><p>For some reason it was scared of being physically hit by David. The boy didn’t understand it; Laika’s body never appeared particularly vulnerable to him, if anything it was almost indestructible in its flexibility. He couldn’t recall a time when he ever managed to hurt the creature by accident despite the fact that some of the games they played were very rough. Laika could overpower and swallow him up like a fly; he saw it happen to the man. There was no comparison of their strengths, they weren’t even the same species.</p><p>Perhaps this fear of being hit wasn’t linked to pain, but David’s anger. He knew that Laika was sensitive to his feelings in a strange mute way. It reminded him of the way animals could smell danger or fear. When he shouted at Laika it put him in the position of power, the position that he maintained since the beginning of their relationship. It was only very recently that he actually had to seriously hit Laika at all.</p><p>It happened during one of his long naps. The boy felt gentle pressure against his waist and arms, as if he was being lifted up. Naturally, he immediately opened his eyes in panic and started to struggle wildly. He somehow managed to extract himself from the organic bondage and Laika’s familiar electronic whine filled the room.</p><p>“Stop it! Stay away!” the boy cried angrily. He lifted his hand in a warning, watching the black tendrils swirl in the air like charmed snakes.</p><p>“Stop it or I’ll hit you” he threatened coldly. The tentacles stayed frozen in the air and for a moment he thought they would retreat. They always moved away when he made this threat and Laika appeared very still at the other side of the room.</p><p>It therefore took him by surprise when they charged forward towards his head. Laika was probably only trying to touch his face, pat his ears probably, but at the time all David saw was this dangerous thing moving towards his head and he reacted on instinct.</p><p>The boy roughly grabbed the black mass and dug his nails inside, twisting it with an angry cry. It turned soft and vulnerable underneath his fingers, like a marshmallow. A metallic screech travelled through the room that surprised even him. He could feel it vibrate in his bones.</p><p>The tendrils immediately slithered back towards the human figure on the other side of the room, banging against the cracked wall.</p><p>“David, you hit!” Laika complained with a screechy voice that seemed almost too high to hear. He paced by the invisible barrier like a tiger denied its prey. The imagery made David feel slightly sick.</p><p>“W-well, what did you expect? I warned you!” the boy said, feeling something akin to guilt build up inside his chest.  Laika continued to pace relentlessly, a black ghost of impatience.</p><p>“You hit!” the creature repeated, seemingly still stuck on that realization. David lowered himself down on the floor with his back against the wall.  For some reason he felt like he needed to excuse his actions, even thought he was completely in the right.</p><p>“I wouldn’t have hit you if you didn’t cheat! You have to stay away.”</p><p>“You hit!”</p><p>At its core, Laika was a child and in a way, David was the parent. It was only when the boy looked at their relationship from a distance that he realized this.</p><p>It made the incident with him hurting Laika that much worse.</p><p>But like every parent/child relationship, there were instances when the child would get out of control if not handled properly and David feared that when such a time came, he would not survive. With each passing day, Laika grew angrier and took David’s stance as a rejection; the boy could not sleep because of this constant fear that something will go wrong. This, along with the new itching sensation on his scalp, turned David into an exhausted insomniac that was stuck at a point where he knew he had to do something, but no idea what.</p><p>It was when the light bulb gave out and the room was submerged into complete darkness, that the sign came.</p><p>This was not the first time the light burned out like this. There were several instances in David’s imprisonment, when George had to bring in a small chair from the place behind the door and allow his wife to screw in a new bulb. During those times, Laika would become especially clingy, keeping David as far away from the couple as possible. While the first two times David was curious to see the process, he ultimately realized that George was being twice as cautious, his eyes sharp and gun ready as he watched the proceedings. It made running away impossible. After he understood this, David usually slept these moments away and didn’t see the process as anything but as an annoyance.</p><p>However this time was different.</p><p>He waited for the man in the darkness. Patient. Prepared. Lacking any of the fears that held him back before.</p><p>He had a clear idea of what he was going to do. For several weeks, George came alone, unaccompanied by his sickly-looking wife. David assumed that something must have happened to her; it was possible that she was out there, catching more unsuspecting people, but he assumed it had something to do with her frail appearance. Perhaps her health got worse and she died. It was impossible to tell, stuck inside this stony cage. The bottom line was that George would come alone and when he’ll see the light bulb, he would most likely try to fix it during the same visit. David hadn’t caused any trouble for a few months, appearing weak and passive. If he fakes sleep, George would probably not see him as a threat, instead having his eyes focused on Laika.</p><p>The man always left the door open when he came inside, and David knew that he was fast enough to run up the stairs and through the door inside the house. Perhaps he could find a place to hide once he was there, or even wrestle the gun out of George’s hand when he least expected it and use it against him.</p><p>The only thing left to do was simply to wait.</p><p>At the edge of his vision, Laika slowly moved around his half of the room, murky figure hidden in the darkness. Despite the lack of any actual light, natural or electronic, David could still see black-and-white silhouettes of objects in the room; a group of lines cups by the mattress and the clear outline of his human shaped companion. He knew that he was not supposed to be able to see anything at all, at least he was pretty sure about that. It was getting harder and harder to remember what his senses were like before his imprisonment; his sense of taste almost non-existent while his sight became unnatural sharp. He knew that regular people couldn’t see things the way he did.</p><p>Laika never had problems with his sight either but David already suspected that the creature had a different way of ‘seeing’ than mammals did. Laika had the ability to play multiple games at the same time without any apparent strain; no matter where he was, David’s activities were observed by the creature.</p><p>David’s sight gave him an advantage over George; the man would have to have the door open to let the light in, which would give David a clear exit route. From then on he just had to get up the stairs, open the door and…and what? He didn’t know where in the house he would end up. He didn’t know if he even was in a house, that was just a wild assumption on his part. George always wore outdoor shoes when he came in but that didn’t really mean anything. Sometimes he wore a t-shirt, sometimes a warm jacket.  David tried to remember if he ever saw mud or rain on his shoes but all he could recall was that bit of snow on the man’s shoulders and head.</p><p>The more he thought about it, the sicker he felt and in the end David decided that he would simply decide on the spot. He would just keep running until he felt he was safe.</p><p>An unknown amount of time had passed. He could have been sitting in the darkness for an hour or half a day- it was impossible to tell. When the familiar noise of keys echoed in the basement room, the boy immediately settled himself on the hard floor. He could see Laika make a sharp move in his direction, as if to swoop him up from across the room but the creature stopped and stilled, becoming an unmoving shadow by the mattress.</p><p>David closed his eyes.</p><p>He could tell it was George almost immediately; there was only a single pair of footsteps and then a soft curse as the man realized the room was completely dark. Then he appeared to move back again and by the sound, David guessed that he has been going through the light bulb boxes. The boy continued lying still with baited breath and his eyelids trembled with anticipation.  There was a long pause and then the sound of footsteps again; George must have found the light bulb along with the chair. David could hear it scraping on the floor as it was being dragged in the centre of the room.</p><p>‘When he’s on the chair’ David thought nervously ‘when he’s on the chair I’ll push him over and run.’</p><p>His stomach was tight with anticipation, tied in knots. Cold sweat slowly travelled down his naked skin and David had to concentrate on his breathing to not give himself away. Breathe in, out, in…out…in…out…</p><p>The gentle metal scraping let him know that George was already on the chair, unscrewing the light bulb. Very slowly, David put his hands underneath him, flat on the floor. His eyes could see the man in the darkness, standing on top of an old chair like a statue. The gun was nowhere to be seen and the man was turned the other way, obviously wanting to keep Laika in his sight. That was his mistake- he never saw David as a threat. The boy was just something discarded, something that they dumped here and expected to be eaten. A piece of meat.</p><p>Well, they were wrong.</p><p>With a burst of speed, David rushed forward and collided with the heavy body balancing on top of the chair. George must have heard him and was in the process of turning around but it was too late and with a crash the man fell on the ground, the chair cluttering on the floor with him.</p><p>For a moment David was completely stunned. The fact that he managed to physically overpower George came as a surprise; yes, he had a plan but something inside of him told him it wouldn’t work. George wasn’t just a man in his eyes, he was something so powerful, so utterly omnipotent that the thought of simply pushing him to the floor seemed ridiculous to David. The boy was small and scrawny compared to him and yet he was the one standing above the brute now. With a rush of power, David turned his head towards the exit and started to run.</p><p>His legs became clumsy, as if they forgot how to move and the motion of running up the stairs was unfamiliar to them. The door above him was large and metal. He desperately hoped that it wasn’t locked- imagine turning that handle and finding resistance, imagine how crushing that must be, how utterly devastating- and breathlessly put his whole body against it, trembling hands on the knob-</p><p>It was open.</p><p>He must have let out some sort of a sound because a choked whine echoed in the room and David flung the door open with all his strength, running out. It was happening, it was really happening.</p><p>The first thing he noticed was that he was inside a building. A huge tall ceiling stretched above his head like a grey sky and everywhere David looked, he was greeted by shabby plastic. The place was run-down and resembled a large factory; the boy imagined many things but he would have never imagined the basement being located inside such a large building. The huge space left him disoriented for a moment and he stumbled for a few seconds. He bent his leg to start running again, when a loud shot echoed in the whole building and the boy was thrust forward.</p><p>His stomach felt strange. When he looked down he saw a sea of black dripping down his skin and on his hands that were firmly clutching his abdomen. A painful ache started to spread over his body and when his legs gave out, the boy collapsed on the dirty floor with a choked cry. He could feel liquid spilling through his fingers and clutched at his stomach harder, desperate to keep himself together.</p><p>No.</p><p>He hadn’t even managed to get outside yet. He has to keep going. Just to see a glimpse of the sky through the window, something, anything but this… He can’t give up now, it’s still too early.</p><p>But his legs weren’t moving no matter how much he wished for them to step forward and his body kept getting heavier and heavier until he couldn’t support himself and collapsed on the floor. He felt so weak and pathetic, like a slug crawling on the ground in his own slime. The black fluid started to spread all around him, pooling like blood and the boy lifted his arm in an attempt to get back on his feet again.</p><p>When he heard a sharp cry he turned his head but before he managed to look behind him, the cry was abruptly silenced. David shifted his body awkwardly, feeling like a leaking faucet. His palms were pressing against something warm and jelly-like in his stomach that kept sticking out insistently. Whatever it was, David was sure that he couldn’t afford to lose it. He needed to make it outside, he needed to wrap something around his stomach and then walk out of here…</p><p>“Daaaviiiiid…” a soft cooing reached his ears and David turned his head, awkwardly facing the opened doors of his prison. Laika, in his petal form, was swaying by the basement door and reaching towards him with inviting tendrils. The creature was hovering in the darkness, clearly wanting to scoop him up but for some reason unable to move any closer. After a moment of confusion, David realized that Laika was afraid; the basement was probably all the creature knew. Despite the small distance between the two, the boy was out of his reach.</p><p>George was nowhere to be found but David remembered the cut off cry and silence that followed. The man’s gun was lying on the floor by Laika’s tentacles.</p><p>“David, I love you” Laika continued in a broken mechanical voice and at that moment, David felt all his doubts about his friend leave him. He regretted the way he treated Laika this past month, regretted hitting him when he tried to touch him.</p><p>The creature would never harm him- this whole time Laika was protecting him in a way that nobody in his life ever did. His parents never really cared about him and his siblings were too young to understand what it meant to love somebody. But Laika did. Laika was the only one who unconditionally loved him, even through all the bad things, through all the harsh words David said. Laika loved him like a gentle mother, protective father, a trusting child, like a friend- he was the only thing that kept him alive through this terrible imprisonment.</p><p>He felt stupid for realizing all of this so late. He thought he was unable to die but his stomach kept leaking that black soup and his whole body felt numb, as if he was floating underwater. David’s arm reached for the creature, fingers outstretched desperately.</p><p>“Laika…help me…”</p><p>“David!”</p><p>His eyelids felt heavy like stone and eventually the boy closed them with a sense of hopelessness. It was getting harder and harder to stay awake. What was the point of fighting this numbness anyway? Wasn’t this what he wanted? To die? He was so desperate to escape this existence that he even attempted to take his own life.</p><p>“DaAAavv-v-vid!!”</p><p>But he was so close. He wanted to at least see the sky. Just once.</p><p>“-viiIIIII-DDDD!”</p><p>It was just so…unfair. He never hurt anybody, he always tried being good. It wasn’t fair!</p><p>“-aaaAAAAVVVV….IIIID!”</p><p>He was too weak. His body won’t move. It was no use.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sound of rain made David open his eyes.</p><p>The boy woke up as if rising from a very deep sleep, mind foggy and slow as he was thrust into consciousness. He remembered pain and a loud shot from the back; the boy’s hand moved towards his stomach hesitantly to check the bleeding wound. He didn’t know what he expected to find there, a hole, a strong stream of the seemingly endless black river, perhaps his naked organs- but the trembling fingers only felt soft skin and David moved to his knees in confusion.</p><p>He found it extremely easy to sit up, almost as if something inside of him lifted the heavy body like a puppet on a string. It was an unfamiliar sensation that made his insides squirm in a way he had never experienced before.</p><p>David recognized his surroundings almost immediately; the abandoned factory with its grey ceiling and broken machinery loomed around him ominously. When he looked at the basement door behind him Laika was nowhere to be found. The only thing he could see was a strange vaguely human shaped lump on the bottom of the stairs; it appeared unmoving and wrapped in George’s bloodstained jacket.</p><p>A corpse?</p><p>“Laika…” David mumbled weakly and his voice sounded quite strange, low, too low even for a grown man. He cleared his throat a few times but when he spoke again the voice stayed along with its almost inhuman raspy gruff.</p><p>“Laika?”</p><p>Without a response, David decided to inspect the missing wound. The skin on his stomach was devoid of any scars or blemishes and when David wiped away the leaked black fluid, he realized that he was in fact missing his belly-button.  This discovery disturbed him and he spent a long time simply staring at the place where his wound used to be.</p><p>The boy stroked his stomach for a while, trying to get used to its new, smooth appearance when suddenly there was a deep movement somewhere inside of him, travelling down his spine and gripping his legs from within. David immediately jumped to his feet, as if acting on reflex and then looked down at his body in bewilderment. He felt wrong, different, there was something changed inside his organs, bones- he didn’t know what it was but it made him feel like a stranger in his own body.</p><p>Soon enough the twisting sensation in his gut was back and David whined in pain; the moment it ceased the boy clutched his perfectly smooth stomach and started walking. With each new step he started to feel better, healthier, stronger and as he let the sensation wash over him, the boy broke into a run. It was hard to remember but David doubted he was ever this fast in his life before the basement; the abandoned machinery passed him by in a blur and the moment he spotted the large door he quickened his pace until it felt like he was flying. It was such an incredible rush that he started to laugh and the low, raspy sound echoed in the spacious building. Something inside his body vibrated, as if in a response.</p><p>He pressed himself against the large doors and they opened without a struggle. The left part fell off its hinges and David effortlessly dumped it on the ground before walking over it with bare feet. When his toes touched the wet pebbles it was as if a current struck him and David froze in shock. It was raining. He could feel water drip on his naked skin, droplets travel down his bare head and shoulders, in between his spine like small insect. The sky was light grey with darkness looming in the horizon and the sun shyly peeked above his head through the rain. Afternoon. It was afternoon.</p><p>He started to walk again with his legs seemingly moving on their own. Greenery surrounded him from all sides; a large group of trees spreading for a path to the forest that looked like it was made just for him. David followed the trail with predatory movements and sharp steps; something inside kept telling him that at the end of that path he would meet his second captor. However instead of feeling scared at the thought of facing the woman again, David experienced such a strong rush of confidence and power that he felt untouchable. He could take on anyone, no matter the number, size or age.</p><p>The air was crisp and pleasantly cool as he breathed it in greedily; it smelled fresh and like everything he remembered. The thing inside his body twitched and the next time he breathed in, David’s lungs felt so full he thought they would explode.</p><p>Everything in the forest was fresh, sharp and alive. He could hear the animals moving in the trees, feel the light weight of droplets on his eyelids, smell the rich soil under his feet. The mixture of sensations was almost overwhelming and several times David wanted to stop but it was as if his legs moved on their own. Determined, powerful…independent.  It was only when he started to focus on his actions again that David managed to get back in control; it felt very much like moving from the passenger to driver seat again.</p><p>All of this was so surreal; it was possible that David was still dreaming. Perhaps he died back in the building and all of this was just a dream that would never end. The boy would sleep for eternity.</p><p>A firm tug at his insides made him heave for a moment but the second it was gone, David realized that he somehow managed to make it out of the forest. He could see the grey sky clearly again as it merged with the old road in the distance. To his right stood a large house.</p><p>Feeling like his chest was on fire, the boy started to walk again, this time in a quieter manner as he moved in the direction of the home. If the woman was alive she was most probably inside so why was he not running away? If he followed the road he could surely find some cars eventual and hitch a ride. He would tell them their story and people would help him.</p><p>But would they really? Isn’t hitch hiking what caused this whole mess to begin with? Besides he wasn’t sure any car would stop when he looked like this; David hadn’t seen himself in a mirror for a long time but he knew he must look like a monster. His body was definitely not human.</p><p>And even if he managed to find help, who could he tell about the creature that lived by his side in the underground of the basement? Who would even believe a story like that?</p><p>He couldn’t even talk properly with a voice like this! His whole body was completely ruined and naked for the entire world to see; like the vulnerable skin under a scab.  He was a freak. Mutant.</p><p>While his mind was torn in confusion, his body moved without the slightest hesitation and David crept towards the front door. Through the painted glass square at the top he could see inside the kitchen; the room appeared empty. When he tugged at the handle it wouldn’t budge; once he put more force behind the movement, he was left with a torn off knob in his hand. David stared at it in confusion.</p><p>Did he do that? The thing must have been broken; it came apart so easily.</p><p>He silently dropped it on the floor with a sick feeling of premonition; pushing against the door it gave away easily and the boy walked through. He felt incredibly out of place in the tidy kitchen as he was reminded of his old life, with his mother. He could almost see her washing dishes by the sink with her back turned. Standing by the counter, David realized how he was not part of this cultured life anymore. Was this how wild animals felt when they stumbled into human homes?</p><p>The feeling pestered him all the way to the living room where various photos loomed over him on the walls, all of them of a smiling pair. He recognized both of them instantly despite their age- George and his sickly looking wife. Their carefree faces filled him with a quiet rage; how dare they be so content, living in this comfortable home when he had been trapped in that cold hopelessly place for months! How dare they have this warm house, this comfort of food and shelter when he was left with nothing but a bowl of water!</p><p>The carpet felt soft and fine under his bare feet and, the wooden table clean and gleaming with reflected sunlight. There were small cushions on the sofa that made him want to press them against his face, to see if he still remembered how is it to fall asleep with something soft under your head.</p><p>He looked at the photos again. Those monsters smiling from the walls were more alien that Laika could ever possibly be. George got what he deserved; David didn’t care if his body rotted in that basement for all eternity.</p><p>One of the photos featured a young George standing in front of the factory David just crawled out of. The building was whole and still looked live it was running at the time the photo was taken. The boy eyed George’s uniform for a long moment, thinking of the unmoving lump on the bottom of the stairs that he left behind before stepping away from the pictures.  </p><p>The living room was empty but looked lived in; David could see a cup on the table half filled with what looked like coffee. It must have belonged to George since the man didn’t know that the visit he made was going to be his last. Maybe his wife was still in the house, or maybe she already passed away if she didn’t notice George’s absence. But no, that thing inside him told him that there was another person in the house, upstairs and alone.  David looked up at the second floor and started to move.</p><p>To his left he could see the view from the window; the house’s backyard where a single truck was parked, muddy and unwashed. David immediately recognized the vehicle as the one that stopped for him all those months ago, when he was hitchhiking. He felt fear, looking at it. Fear and anger. The mix of emotions fueled his quiet steps as he made his way onto the second floor and came face to face with a pair of antlers protruding from a stag’s severed head. Something inside him twitched at the sight, his insides rearranging themselves violently and he looked away immediately, moving to the end of the hall with swift movements.</p><p>The being inside him told him that there was a person in the back room, alone and unmoving. He didn’t know how he knew that fact, it was as if the information flowed from within his blood and veins towards his brain. He knew it the moment he stepped onto the second floor, with no doubt in his mind. The wife. It must be the wife.</p><p>He kept walking towards the presence, quiet and careful in the afternoon sunlight. Each step brought him closer and closer towards the closed door at the end of the hall.  When he turned his head he came face to face with a painting on the wall. It was of a dark ghostly portrait.</p><p>No. It was a mirror.</p><p>The face staring back at him wasn’t somebody…or something he recognized.  At first glance, the hair was the most dramatic change. Without his blond locks his face looked smaller and thinner, like the outline of a skeleton. He could see the beginnings of new hair sprouting from the top, the dark stubble suggesting a different hair color that looked almost gray in the afternoon light of the hall. His skin was darker and smudged with layers and layers of dirt and sweat. His eyebrows and lashes thin and still not yet fully grown.</p><p>But the biggest change was the eyes staring at him through the mirror. The whites were a murky dark, an infection spreading through the individual veins until it reached the iris. His originally green eyes were now a sickly mix of red and brown; when he shifted his gaze upwards, the shape of them looked very unnatural.</p><p>David turned his gaze away immediately, frightened of his own reflection. Was this how he looked like to other people? A dirty and naked ghoul? Two misshapen orbs attached to a skeleton face?</p><p>He couldn’t even remember how his face looked like before his stay at the basement. He knew he had blond hair and green eyes, he knew his skin was tanned and body healthy. But when he tried to recall the structure of his face or the shape of his eyes, he drew a blank. There was nothing there, as if his mind encountered a wall.</p><p>With growing sense of horror, David realized that if he managed to get back home his parents wouldn’t even recognize him. This face would probably make his younger siblings cry, like the boogieman hidden in the closet. They wouldn’t know it was him.</p><p>The basement disfigured him.</p><p>He must have started crying because there was wetness on his face, darkness dripping down his cheeks as he continued to move towards the door. He didn’t even know why he still went to confront the wife, he wouldn’t gain anything by encountering her. It’s as if his legs moved on their own, as if that thing inside of him kept pushing his body forward like a corpse on strings. He wasn’t in control.</p><p>His hand reached out and opened the door. For a moment he was blinded by the light shining through the window to his right; the position of the bedroom allowed for the most amount of sunlight in the house. David squinted and only when he heard a soft gasp from the room did he blink his tears away.</p><p>There was a small figure lying in the bed. The only uncovered part was the face peeking from the covers, old and familiar despite its pale complexion. George’s wife.</p><p>David took a step forward.</p><p>“STAY AWAY!” the woman shrieked with a weak voice. There was a deep burning growing inside David’s chest, like a small flame that was being coaxed into a bonfire. He started to breathe heavily, mouth open to let in more air from the stiff bedroom. His legs kept moving towards the shaking figure on the bed and his mouth kept opening wider and wider, without his conscious effort, as if he was about to yawn- and suddenly there was a deep crack that echoed in the small room and the thing inside him jerked violently.</p><p>He didn’t remember anything after that.</p><p>                *                                          *                                        *                                     </p><p>David woke up in the familiar darkness of his companion.</p><p>The lukewarm water caressed his limbs as he shifted, touching the smooth blackness surrounding him from every side. When the barrier shivered and spiked underneath his fingers he smiled, pressing his face against the darkness. He was inside Laika.</p><p>‘What a strange dream’, he thought sleepily. ‘I can’t even tell what’s real anymore’.</p><p>When the barrier parted for him he expected to be greeted by the gloomy shine of the single light bulb and the coldness of the basement floor. However what he felt underneath his hands and knees were sleek tiles and there was no artificial light in sight. He was surrounded by complete darkness.</p><p>It took him a moment to be able to see in the dark, his sight adjusting quickly and the boy stood up, putting a hand on the tendrils wrapping around his waist.</p><p>“Laika?” he asked, confused but relieved. His companion squeezed him in response and the tentacles changed shape, becoming shorter and thicker. When David looked behind him, the boyish face of Laika looked back.</p><p>“I’m scared” Laika said, clinging to him like a child. “Where are we?”</p><p>“Oh” David replied, not understanding the question for a moment. His mouth felt strange but because of his numbed sense of taste, he couldn’t tell why exactly. It felt like there was something gooey stuck in his teeth and he pressed against it with his tongue. Did he eat something? </p><p>David turned his gaze towards the room, finding an overturned table and all sorts of furniture heaped around them like some sort of a fort. It was the kitchen…in George’s house.</p><p>“Shhh…” David cooed softly, stroking his friend’s arm “It’s ok. We’re in a house.”</p><p>“House” Laika repeated, having been taught that word before. David had a drawn a house on the wall of their room, months ago.</p><p>David took a step forward, trying to climb through the piled furniture around them. When he told Laika to push it away, he did it effortlessly and it gave David a feeling that it was his friend who stacked them up in the first place. Like a bird building a nest. There were two sofas piled up and pressed against the open door as well; when Laika pushed them away the path cleared and they could walk through.</p><p>“Laika, how did you get here?” David asked, amazed that his companion could actually walk such a long distance. The hands around him tightened even further and Laika replied “I am with you.”</p><p>“I know you are but…how did you get here? To this house?”</p><p>“I came with you.”</p><p>David stopped, turning his full attention to his black twin.  “You walked with me?”</p><p>“I came with you” Laika repeated and one of the black hands lingered on David’s stomach, lightly prodding the place that had been pierced by the gun’s bullet. The boy thought about the gesture, remembering the strange feeling of something shifting through his organs, the way his legs almost moved by themselves.</p><p>“You were…you were inside of me??” he asked with a feeling that he didn’t want to know the answer.</p><p>“You are in me and I am in you.”</p><p>“Oh God…” David breathed out, clutching at his stomach as his throat tightened in disgust. It must have been that wound, the moment he collapsed on the ground and passed out. Laika must have somehow…climbed inside him, the same way he did when David tried to kill himself. The boy could still remember how he threw up the black goo that twisted on the ground, slithering back to join his friend.</p><p>The boy looked down at his body with a sick feeling in his stomach. It didn’t look like a place for two.</p><p>“You were hurt. Dead. I musted helped” Laika explained, grammar clumsy and patted David’s shoulder with a loving gesture. The boy leaned into the touch, wanting some kind of familiar kindness amongst the chaos. When he lifted his hand to touch Laika back, he noticed the dark red liquid on his fingers. It looked like blood. When he wiped at his face he realized that it was spread across his mouth and neck.</p><p>“T-that woman. Where is she? What happened to her?” he asked with a shaky voice and immediately changed his direction towards the staircase.</p><p>“She is water. I drink her” Laika repeated carelessly, following the boy like a lost puppy. The words chilled David, increasing the speed of his steps as he ran up the stairs and down the hall with an ominous feeling in his chest. He passed the mirror but didn’t look; all he could see from the corner of his eye was a figure covered in red, like a flash of a ghost. The door was already opened when he arrived and with a few steps he was suddenly inside the bedroom, looking at the blood stained bed in the corner. The woman was nowhere in sight.</p><p>There was no sign of struggle, nothing but a little amount of blood painting the top of the covers a bright crimson. He could still see the imprint of her body on the bed. The moonlight painted the room a dull blue and when David’s knees gave in, Laika picked him up before he could fall on the floor.</p><p>“Why…why…”</p><p>“She was bad and loud. You said you were scared before so I made you not watch” Laika replied, sounding almost smug as if he completed a particularly difficult task and wanted to be praised for it. David didn’t respond, his eyes unable to look away from the imprint on the bed.</p><p>“S-she was bad…wasn’t she?” David asked after a long pause, trying to put things into perspective. He remembered the smiling couple in the photos, how the pair had everything and left him rotting in the basement, alone and abandoned.  “She was evil. She kept us in that basement room and just…just waited for me to die. It was…self-defense.”</p><p>“She was bad” Laika echoed and lightly rocked him.</p><p>“Yes, it was her, not us” David continued, no longer sure whether he was talking to his friend or to himself. “We didn’t do anything wrong. We had to get rid of them both otherwise we would have been stuck there forever.”</p><p>“She was water.”</p><p>“Yes. It was them against us. And we won.”</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Epilogue</p><p> </p><p>Everything was prepared.</p><p>David adjusted the baseball cap on top of his head, turning it down to cover his eyes. The sunlight felt warm and unnatural against his skin but he tried to ignore it as he lifted the large backpack, the bottles full of water sloshing inside. The fresh air felt good and he breathed in deep, his insides subtly shifting to allow for a large gulp of air.</p><p>Both the shirt and jacket he was wearing were too big for him, the flannel flapping around his hips when he moved.  Once upon a time they both belonged to George but David knew the man won’t be needing them anymore. The clothes smelt freshly washed and while he didn’t need a cover from the weather, the boy still wanted to fit in.</p><p>The trousers were a smaller cut, obviously belonging to the wife. The shoes too, were fairly feminine but seemed to fit better than George’s large boots; David didn’t care about style as long as he was covered from head to toe. The less people saw of him, the better.</p><p>He had washed properly for the journey, wanting to appear as human as possible. The layers of dirt and sweat disappeared down the drain after the boy spent an hour in the shower, spending the first half with Laika and playing around, and the second trying to get rid of the dirt. His skin was instantly lighter, a sickly grey color that could pass for a tan under the right lightning. His hair was short and prickly on top of his head, still growing in and the boy chose to cover it with a hat he found amongst George’s clothes.</p><p>Everything about wearing clothes set his teeth on edge. They were a constant reminder of his tormentors and their deaths which he would rather forget. Furthermore they kept clinging to his limbs in an uncomfortable manner and made him feel as if he was pretending to be someone he wasn’t. Wearing shoes was something the old David did, the boy from another life, another universe that didn’t have Laika or George or the basement. He was different now, changed forever.</p><p>With the bag on his back, David exited the house and started to walk towards the old road visible in the distance. He was greeted by the remains of rain everywhere he looked, the ground underneath him deliciously wet, the leaves aching under the strain of raindrops as he moved past them. He knew that Laika must have felt the humidity in the air too because the pleasurable vibrations travelled up his spine as he breathed in with a smile.</p><p>Once he reached the road, David started to walk alongside, choosing a direction on random. He didn’t know how long it would take to find any civilization, but he knew that he could walk for a very long time before he would feel tired. And even if he would fall asleep, Laika could still make sure he kept going, like a puppet on a string. David laughed out loud, finding the imagery funny.</p><p>He knew there wasn’t a place for him in his family’s home anymore. As far as they were concerned he had run away and already had a life of his own. Although he missed his siblings, he knew that they would probably not remember his face in a few years and eventually forget him completely. It was better that way. He preferred being remembered the way he was when he left; the smiling, fair haired older brother that liked to teach new things.</p><p>In a way, nothing had changed. Except he had a new friend to teach now. </p><p>The boy stopped for a moment, sensing a movement from the corner of his eye. A dark spot on the road made him look down and it took him a long while to realize that he was looking at a slug. The creature squirmed on the wet asphalt, boneless and without any limbs as it desperately tried to escape the road. ‘How pathetic’ the boy thought.</p><p>David stepped closer, his leg dangerously hovering over the creature. His lips stretched into a smile as he thought about childhood horrors and how terrified he used to be of these pathetic, limbless creatures. The slug continued to squirm in the boy’s shadow, completely unaware of the danger it was in, not realizing that its short pathetic life was coming to an end. When David lowered his foot he did so with a vicious stomp, squashing the slug on the wet asphalt. The only thing that remained was a smashed mess on the ground and he carefully scraped his shoe of the dead corpse. </p><p>“Just water” the boy mumbled softly, thinking about his friend’s words.</p><p>Once he managed to get his shoe clean, David moved on again, putting his hood up to cover himself from the setting sun. He knew it would take a long time for him to find any people, but he was patient.</p><p>The figure continued to walk alongside the road until it eventually disappeared in the sunset.</p>
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